The Family Reads the Ninth Key
by RicardianScholar Clark-Weasley
Summary: sequel to the Family Reads Shadowland. moving on to the second diary how will the family handle the next installment of Suze's ghostly adventures? finding about Brad's rule breaking, how Spike came to the family and what really happened to Tad...uhoh
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Note: sequel to The Family Read's the Shadowland, picks up immediately where I left off, so those who hadn't, you might want to read the first one. _

Once they had stopped laughing at a flushed Brad, Jake's stomach began to grumble as well. "Speaking of which, I'm hungry too."

"And we're locked in!" Brad shrieked, slightly panicked. "We're going to die of starvation!"

David rolled his eyes. "I doubt Father Dominic would let it go that far, Brad."

"David's right," Andy said as Brad opened his mouth to speak. "If we look around the room, I'm sure we'll find something to eat."

After hunting around behind the sofas, Brad had triumphantly discovered several large bags of variety crisps, packets of biscuits and a few large bottles of Coke – complete with plastic cups.

"Hallelujah! Father D. is a saint!" Brad yelled as he ripped the crisp bag, snatching out a smaller packet from inside. His brothers immediately leaped at him for their own share. Chaos had broken out as all three boys were wrestling for a bag, so Andy snatched up the diary they had finished reading and used it to bash them over the head. His sons sat whining and rubbing their heads as Andy gathered the food away from them.

"Now, I shall share these out equally and you will eat them _slowly_ so they last for the rest of the night, got that?" Andy announced, holding the food high above his head. Jake and David mumbled their consent. "Got that, _Brad_?"

"Yes Dad." Brad grumbled, scowling like a three-year-old.

"Good." Andy sighed as he handed out the food equally and poured out drinks, passing them to his sons and wife; then sitting down and picking up the second of Suze's diaries. "Now let's read the second book. I believe its David's turn?"

David took the book and cleared his throat before reading.

**Nobody told me about the poison oak. **

"Who didn't?" Brad asked, mouth full. Helen winced in disgust.

"Speak without food in your mouth, please."

Brad swallowed. "Sorry."

**Oh, they told me about the palm trees. Yeah, they told me plenty about the palm trees, all right. But nobody ever said a word about this poison oak business. **

"**The thing is, Susannah-"**

**Father Dominic was talking to me. I was trying to pay attention, but let me tell you something: poison oak **_**itches. **_

"Don't scratch it, it'll only spread." Andy said instantly. "And listen to Father Dominic; he could be giving you valuable advice."

"I agree." Helen put in.

"**As mediators – which is what we are, you and I, Susannah - aid and solace to those unfortunate souls who are suffering in the void between the living and the dead."**

**I mean, yeah, the palm trees are nice and everything. It had been cool to step off the plane and see those palm trees everywhere, especially since I'd heard how cold it can get at night in northern California. **

"Susannah, listen to Father Dominic!" Helen scolded.

**But what is the deal with this poison oak? How come nobody ever warned me about **_**that**_**?**

"**You see, as mediators, Susannah, it is our duty to help lost souls get to where they are supposed to be going. We are their guides, as it were. Their spiritual liaisons between this world and the next." Father Dominic fingered an unopened pack of cigarettes that was sitting on his desk, and regarded me with those big old baby blues of his. "But when one's spiritual liaison takes one's head and slams it into a locker door...well, you can see how that kind of behaviour might not build the sort of trust we'd like to establish with out troubled brothers and sisters."**

"She's not listening and even if she was, she wouldn't be agreeing to it. Suze isn't the....Father-Dominic-compassionate type." David muttered, choosing his words carefully so he wouldn't offend his stepsister and stepmother.

"Very true, also with that poison oak rash she won't have the attention span really." Jake agreed.

**I looked up from the rash on my hands. Rash. That wasn't even the word for it. It was like a fungus. Worse than a fungus, even. It was a **_**growth**_**. An insidious growth that, given time, would consume every inch of my once smooth, unblemished skin, covering it with red, scaly bumps. That oozed, by the way. **

"Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!" Brad spat out half his Cheetos in disgust.

"Yeah, it's revolting." Jake agreed, glaring at his younger brother.

"Brad clean that mess up now!" Ah, Andy was always the _conscientious_ househusband.

"**Yeah" I said, "But if our troubled brothers and sisters are giving us a hard time, I don't see why it's such a crime if I just haul off and slug them in the-"**

"**But don't you see, Susannah?" Father Dominic clenched the pack of cigarettes. I'd only known him a couple of weeks, but whenever he started fondling his cigarettes – which he never, by the way, actually smoked – it meant he was upset about something. **

**That something, at this particular moment, appeared to be me. **

"Why do I get the feeling she will cause him to keep fondling those cigarettes in all the other diaries?"

"**That is why," he explained, "You're called a mediator. You are supposed to be helping to bring these troubled souls to spiritual fulfilment-"**

"**Look, Father Dom," I said. I tucked my oozing hands out of sight. "I don't know what kind of ghosts you've been dealing with lately-"**

"Probably religious ones that knew he was a priest!"

"**But the ones I've been running into are about as likely to find spiritual fulfilment as I'm going to find a decent New York City-style slice of pizza in this town. It ain't gonna happen. These folks are going to hell or they're going to heaven or they're going to their next life as a caterpillar in Kathmandu, but any way you slice it, sometimes they're gonna need a little kick in the butt to get them there..."**

Everyone sighed. "Give it up Father D., Suze is a lost cause."

"Brad!"

"**No, no, no" Father Dominic leaned forwards. He couldn't lean forwards too much because a week or so before, one of those troubled souls of his had decided to forego spiritual enlightenment and tried to snap his leg off instead. She also broke a couple of his ribs, gave him a pretty nifty concussion, tore up the school real good, and let's see, what else?**

**Oh, yeah. **_**She tried to kill me**_**. **

"Please don't remind me, I'm going to have nightmares of that night for the rest of my life." Helen shuddered.

"I wish I could kick Heather's arse for all that shit." Jake muttered darkly, cracking his knuckles.

"Language, Jake!"

**Father Dominic was back at school, but he was wearing a cast that went all the way down to his toes, and disappeared up his long black robe, who knew how far? **

"Oh, EW!"

**Personally, I didn't like to think about it. **

"I didn't want to think about it but you still put the thought in my head!"

**He was getting pretty handy with those crutches though. He could chase the late kids up and down the halls, if he had to. But since he was the principal, and it was up to the novices to hand out late slips – **

"More of Sister's Ernestine's forte, she seems to really hate children," Pointed out David. "I don't understand why she works in a school…"

**He didn't have to. Besides, Father Dom was pretty cool, and wouldn't do something like that even if he could. **

**Though he takes the whole ghost thing a little too seriously, if you ask me. **

"**Susannah," he said tiredly. "You and I, for better or for worse, were born with an incredible gift – ability to see and speak to the dead."**

"But she doesn't see it that way!"

"**There you go again," I said, rolling my eyes, "With that **_**gift **_**stuff. Frankly, Father, I don't see it that way."**

**How could I? Since the age of **_**two **_**– **_**two years old**_** – I've been pestered with, pounded on, **_**plagued**_** by restless spirits. For fourteen years, I've put up with their abuse, helping them when I could, punching them when I could not, always fearful of somebody finding my secret and revealing me to be the biological freak I've always known I am, but have tried so desperately to hide from my sweet, long-suffering mother. **

"Oh Suzie honey. Please don't put yourself down for my sake. I love you despite this...gift. You should have never hidden this from me, I would have understood....eventually...."

**And then Mom remarried and moved me out to California – in the middle of my sophomore year, thank you very much – where wonder of wonders, I'd actually met someone cursed with the same horrible affliction: Father Dominic. **

**Only Father Dominic refuses to view our 'gift' in the same light as me. To him, it's a marvellous opportunity to help others in need. **

**Yeah, okay. That's fine for him. He's a priest. He's not a sixteen-year-old girl who, **_**hello**_**, would like to have a social life.**

**If you ask me, a 'gift' would have some plus side to it. Like superhuman strength or the ability to read minds, or something. **

"That would be so cool!"

**But I don't have any of that cool stuff. I'm just an ordinary sixteen-year-old – well, okay, with above ordinary looks, if I do say so myself – who happens to be able to converse with the dead. **

"Yeah that isn't really cool after all the beatings from Heather, of all people…"

**Big deal. **

"**Susannah," he said now, very seriously. "We are mediators. We aren't...well **_**terminators**_**. Our duty is to intervene on the spirits' behalf, and lead them to their ultimate destination. We do that by gentle guidance and counselling, not by punching them in the face or by performing Brazilian voodoo exorcisms."**

"Yes, I don't approve of that exorcism, young lady! You almost got yourself killed if it wasn't for David, Jake and Jesse! I am very disappointed in you, you should have kept your promise to Father Dominic and waited for his assistance but _oh no_ you had to go charging in there!"

"Err....Mom, maybe you should wait till you actually see Suze to give her the lecture."

**He raised his voice on the word exorcisms, even though he knew perfectly well I'd only done that exorcism as a last resort. It's not my fault half the school fell down during it. I mean, technically it was the ghost's fault, not mine. **

"She's got a point."

"Andy she almost died!"

"I'm not saying she should have done it, dear, I'm just saying that she has a point, it was Heather's fault that the ceiling fell on top of Suze."

"**Okay, okay, already," I said, holding up both hands in an I-surrender sort of gesture. "I'll try it your way from now on. I'll do the touchy-feely stuff. Jees. You West Coasters. It's all backrubs and avocado sandwiches with you guys, isn't it?"**

**Father Dominic shook his head. "And what would you call your mediation technique, Susannah? Head butts and chokeholds?" **

Everyone snorted. "Who knew Father D had such a sense of humour?"

"**That's very funny, Father Dom." I said. "Can I go back to class now?" **

"**Not yet." he puttered around with the cigarettes, tapping the pack like he was actually going to open it. That'll be the day. "How was your weekend?"**

"**Swell" I said. I held up my hands, knuckles turned towards him. "See?"**

**He squinted. "Good heavens, Susannah" he said. "What is**_** that**_**?"**

"I don't blame him to be disgusted; in fact I'm surprised he didn't have a heart attack. Her hands were hideous!"

"Brad!"

"**Poison oak. Good thing nobody told me it grows all over this place abound here."**

"**It doesn't grow all over the place." Father Dominic said. "Only in wooded areas. Were you in a wooded area this weekend?" then his eyes widened behind the lenses of his glasses. "Susannah! You didn't go to the cemetery did you? Not alone. I know you believe yourself to be indomitable, but it isn't all safe for a young girl like yourself to go sneaking around cemeteries even if you are a mediator."**

"Suzie, you didn't!"

"Helen, calm down we don't know for sure she went to a cemetery." Andy said. "Although Suze never told us how she got the rash..."

**I put down my hands and said, disgustedly, "I didn't catch this in any cemetery. I wasn't **_**working**_**. I got it at Kelly Prescott's pool party Saturday night."**

"**Kelly Prescott's pool party?" Father Dominic looked confused. "How would you have encountered poison oak there?"**

"Yes, how?"

**Too late, I realized I probably should have kept my mouth shut. **

"Why? Why should have you kept your mouth shut?!"

**Now I was going to have to explain – to the principal of my school, who also happened to be a**_** priest**_**, no less – about how a rumour had gone around midway through the party that my step-brother Dopey and this girl named Debbie Mancuso were going at it in the pool house. **

"What!" Brad flushed a bright red.

"Whee woo, you sexy beast, losing it in a pool house, hey?" Jake teased.

"I do hope you practised safe sex, Brad." David said as he adjusted his glasses.

"Bradley, tell me you didn't." Andy was clearly disappointed.

"I didn't, I never had sex at that party!" Brad growled, cheeks brighter than ever.

**I had of course denied the possibility since I knew Dopey was grounded. Dopey's dad – my new stepfather, who, for a mostly laid-back, California kind of guy, had turned out to be a pretty stern disciplinarian-**

"I'm only treating my children the way I was treated." Andy said calmly. "With respect, love and discipline."

– **had grounded Dopey for calling a friend of mine a fag. **

**So when the rumour went around at the party that Dopey and Debbie Mancuso were doing the nasty in the pool house, I was pretty sure everyone was mistaken. Brad, I kept insisting – everyone but me calls Dopey Brad, which is his real name, but believe me, Dopey fits him much better – was back home listening to Marilyn Manson through headphones, since his father had also confiscated his stereo speakers. **

"So these rumours better remain rumours otherwise it's a month of grounding." Andy said sternly.

Brad attempted to look innocent.

**But then someone said, "Go take a look for yourself," and I made the mistake of doing so, tiptoeing up to the small window they'd indicated, and peering through it. **

"What a pervert!" Brad exclaimed. "Dad you should ground her for being a peeping tom."

"Don't think you're going to get out of a month of grounding Bradley."

**I had never particularly cared to see any of my stepbrothers in the buff.**

"Thank God!"

**Not that they are bad-looking or anything. Sleepy, the oldest one, is actually considered something of a stud by most of the girls at Junipero Serra Mission Academy, where he is a senior and I am a sophomore. But that doesn't mean I have any desire to see him strutting around the house without his boxers.**

Jake sighed in relief. "That's a fear that I'm fully over now."

"You feared Suze would fancy you?" Helen asked, bewildered.

"Well yeah, I never lived with a girl before and knowing most girls in school...well I was worried and a bit terrified."

"Dude, I think it's safe to say that Suze doesn't fancy any of us." Brad said. "Not that she would have a chance with any of us, anyway."

"Like you ever had a chance with her." David muttered.

**And of course Doc, the youngest, is only twelve, totally adorable with his red hair and sticky-outy ears, but not what you'd call a babe. **

Jake and Brad sniggered. "She's got a point little bro." David merely blushed a light pink.

"You're forgetting that incest is illegal anyway."

**And as for Dopey...well I **_**particularly **_**never wanted to see Dopey in his altogether. In fact, Dopey is just about the**_** last**_** person on earth I'd ever wish to see naked. **

Jake and David laughed out loud. "Oh Shuddup!" Brad growled - they laughed louder.

**Fortunately, when I looked through that window I saw that the reports of my stepbrother's state of undress – as well as his sexual prowess – had been greatly exaggerated. He and Debbie were only making out. This is not to say that I wasn't completely repulsed. I mean, I wasn't exactly proud that my stepbrothers was in there tongue wrestling with the second stupidest person in our class, after himself. **

"And I am not proud that my son disobeyed my orders and went out to a party that not only served alcohol but started a physical relationship with a young lady. One month, trapped in your room without your stereo speakers."

"Aw man, c'mon Dad it was well over a year ago!"

"I'm not hearing of it. You're grounded and so is Suze for all the other things she's done. Jake and David are also being punished for what happened in the last book. You're all being treated fairly."

**I looked away immediately of course, I mean, we've got Showtime at home, for God's sake. I've seen plenty of French kissing before. I wasn't about to stand there gawking while my stepbrother engaged in it. And as for Debbie Mancuso, well, all I can say is, she ought to lay off the sauce. She can't afford to lose any more brain cells than she already has, what with all the hair spry she slathers on in the girls' room between classes. **

**It was as I staggered away in disgust from the pool-house window, which was situated above a small gravel path that I believe I stumbled into some poison oak. I don't remember coming into contact with plant life at any other time this past weekend, being a generally indoors kind of girl. **

"And that's how she got it. So everything is all well and there were no graveyards involved."

**And let me tell you, I really stumbled into those plants. I was feeling light-headed from the horror of what I'd just seen – you know, the tongues and all – plus I had on my platform mules and I sort of lost my balance. The plants I grabbed on to were all that saved me from the ignominy of collapsing on Kelly Prescott's redwood pool deck. **

**What I told Father Dominic, however, was an abridged version. I said I must have staggered into some poison oak as I was getting out of the Prescott's hot tub. **

"Best thing to tell him" Jake agreed. "He would definitely have a heart attack if he knew the truth."

**Father Dominic seemed to accept this and said, "Well, some hydrocortisone ought to clear that up. You should see the nurse after this. Be sure not to scratch it or it will spread"**

"**Yeah, thanks. I'll be sure not to breathe either. That'll probably be just about as easy."**

"Suze! Less lip towards your elders!"

**Father Dominic ignored my sarcasm. It's funny about us two both being mediators. I've never met anybody else who happened to be one – in fact, until a couple weeks ago; I thought I was the only mediator in the whole wide world. **

"A bit impossible I believe" David said, "Probably just so very few, so little that there isn't enough to even make a secret community."

**But Father Dom says there are others. He's not sure how many, or even how, exactly, we precious few happened to be picked for our illustrious – have I mentioned unpaid? – Careers. I'm thinking we should maybe start a newsletter or something. **_**The Mediator News**_**. And have conferences. I could give a seminar on five easy ways to kick a ghost's butt and not mess up your hair. **

Everyone snorted. "Like anyone but her cares."

**Anyway, about me and Father Dom. For two people who have the same weird ability to talk to the dead, we are about as different as can be. Besides the age thing, Father Dom being sixty and me being sixteen, he's Mister Nice himself whereas I'm...**

"Not?"

"Brad!"

**Well not. **

"See! She even admits it!"

**Not that I don't try to be. It's just that one thing I've learned from all of this is that we don't have very much time here on earth. So why waste it putting up with other people's crap? Particularly people who are already dead, anyway. **

"Suzie!"

"**Besides the poison oak," Father Dominic said. "Is there anything else going on in your life you think I should know about?"**

**Anything else going on in my life that I thought he should know about. Let me see...**

**How about the fact that I'm sixteen, and so far, unlike my stepbrother Dopey, I still haven't been kissed, much less asked out?**

"Loser." Brad coughed.

**Not a major big deal – especially to Father Dom, a guy who took a vow of chastity about thirty years before I was even born – but humiliating, just the same. There'd been a lot of kissing going on at Kelly Prescott's pool party – and some heavier stuff, even – but no one had tried to lock lips with me. **

"Probably because they knew she would sucker punch them." Brad grumbled.

**A boy I didn't know did ask me to slow dance at one point though. And I said yes, but only because Kelly yelled at me after I turned him down the first time he asked. Apparently this boy was someone she'd had a crush on for a while. How my slow dancing with him was supposed to get him to like Kelly, I don't know - **

"Bloody hell girls are weird and stupid." Complained Jake.

**But after I turned him down the first time, she cornered me in her bedroom, where I'd gone to check my hair, and, with actual tears in her eyes, informed me that I had ruined her party. **

"Eh?"

"**Ruined you party?" I genuinely astonished. I'd lived in California for all of two weeks by then, so it amazed me that I had managed to make myself a social pariah in such a short period of time. Kelly was already mad at me, I knew, because I had invited my friends Cee Cee and Adam, whom she and just about everyone else in the sophomore class at the Mission Academy consider freaks -**

"Because they are freaks!"

"Do you want to make that two months Brad?"

"No!"

**To her party. Now I had apparently added insult to injury by not agreeing to dance with some boy I didn't even know. **

"Girls!" Jake stared at the ceiling in wonderment.

"It's ridiculous" Helen agreed. "I can't make sense of it either."

"**Jesus." Kelly said when she heard this. "He's a junior at Robert Louis Stevenson, ok? He's the star forward on their basketball team. He won last year's regatta at Pebble Beach, and he's the hottest guy in the Valley, after Bryce Martinson. Suze, if you don't dance with him, I swear I'll never speak to you again."**

**I said, "All right, already. What is your glitch, anyway?"**

"**I just," Kelly said, wiping her eyes with a manicured finger, "want everything to go really well. I've had my eye on this guy for a while now and-"**

"**Oh yeah, Kel," I said. "Getting me to dance with him is sure to make him like you."**

**When I pointed out this fallacy in her thought process, however, all she said was, "**_**Just do it.**_**" Only not the way they say it in Nike ads. She said it the way the Wicked Witch of the West said it to the winged monkeys when she sent them out to kill Dorothy and her little dog too. **

Everyone shuddered. "She does seem...a bit obsessive...." Helen muttered.

**I'm not scared of Kelly or anything, but really, who needs the grief? **

**So I went back outside and stood there in my Calvin Klein once-piece - with a sarong tied ever so casually around the waist – totally not knowing I had just stumbled into a bunch of poison oak, while Kelly went over to her dream date and asked him to ask me to dance again. **

**As I stood there, I tried not to think that the only reason he wanted to dance with me in the first place was that I was the only girl at the party in a swimsuit. Having never been invited to a pool party before in my life, I had erroneously believed people actually swam at them, and had dressed accordingly. **

"Yeah a bit stupid that," Brad muttered.

"I don't know Brad, one would expect to swim at one's pool party," David said. "It's very logical."

"And how many pool parties have you gone to, geek?"

**Not so, apparently. Aside from my stepbrother, who'd apparently become over warm while in Debbie Mancuso's impassioned embrace and had stripped off his shirt, I was wearing the least clothes of anybody there. **

**Including Kelly's dream date. He sauntered up a few minutes later, wearing a serious expression, a pair of white chinos and a black silk shirt. Very Jersey, but then, this was the West Coast, so how was he to know?**

"**Do you want to dance?" he asked me in this really soft voice. I could barely hear him above the strains of Sheryl Crow, booming out from the pool deck's speakers. **

"**Look," I said putting down my Diet Coke. "I don't even know your name."**

"**It's Tad." he said. **

**And then without another word, he put his arms around my waist, pulled me up to him, and started swaying in time to the music. **

"He didn't even bother to ask her, her name? My opinion of this boy has gone down a notch." Helen said disappointedly. She had actually liked Tad Beaumont and his father, it was a shame that they moved not long after Suze started dating Tad…

"He always seemed rather dim to me." Andy argued.

**With the exception of the time I threw myself at Bryce Martinson in order to knock him out of the way when a ghost was trying to crush his skull with a large chunk of wood, this was as close to the body of a boy – a **_**live**_** boy, one who was still breathing – I had ever been.**

"I don't like the sound of that, how many dead guys has she been up close and personal with?" Jake asked glaring at the book.

"Just remember Jake, you can't kill a dead man." David pointed out causing Jake to blush.

**And let me tell you, black silk shirt not withstanding, I **_**liked **_**it. This guy felt **_**good**_**. He was all warm – it was kind of chilly in my bathing suit; being January of course, it was supposed to be too chilly for bathing suits, but this was California, after all – and smelt like some kind of really nice, expensive soap. Plus he was just taller enough than me for his breath to kind of brush against my cheek in this provocative, romance novel sort of way. **

"Could I at least kill this guy? He was obviously thinking dirty thoughts about my little sister!"

"No, Jake you cannot kill your sister's ex-boyfriend!"

**Let me tell you, I closed my eyes, put my arms around this guy's neck, and swayed with him for two of the longest, most blissful minutes of my life. **

"Please!"

"And what has this guy done that's wrong? He made Suze happy, yes only for a short time - but still!"

"Mom he touched her!"

"So has Jesse!"

"Yeah, well that's another dead man walking isn't it?"

"So will you be if you kill Jesse." David said calmly. "Now I have almost finished this entry, so please be quiet."

**Then the song ended. **

**Tad said, "Thank you." in the same soft voice he'd used before, and let go of me. **

**And that was it. he turned around, and walked back over to this group of guys who were hanging out by the keg Kelly's dad had brought for her on the condition she didn't let anybody drive home drunk, a condition Kelly was sticking strictly to, by not drinking herself and by carrying around a cell phone with the number of Carmel Cab on redial. **

**And then for the rest of the party, Tad avoided me. He didn't dance with anybody else. But he didn't speak to me again. **

**Game over, as Dopey would say, but I didn't think Father Dominic wanted to hear about my dating travails. **

"Of course he wouldn't, I would like to have not heard all that." Andy muttered. "No one likes to hear their daughter figure discuss their romantic life."

**So I said, "Nope. Nada. Nothing."**

"**Strange." Father Dominic said, looking thoughtful. "I would have thought there'd be **_**some **_**paranormal activity-"**

"**Oh" I said. "You mean has any **_**ghost **_**stuff been going on?"**

"Well, duh, I can't see Father D being interested in your love life."

**Now he didn't look thoughtful. He looked kind of annoyed. "Well yes, Susannah," he said taking off his glasses, and pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger like he had a headache all of a sudden.**

"Suze can be very headache inducing, I should know."

"Brad!"

"**Of course, that's what I mean." he put his glasses back on. "Why? Has something happened? Have you encountered anyone? I mean, since the unfortunate incident that resulted in the destruction of the school?"**

"I hope not. I hope what has happened with the school would be the last ghostly activity until whatever makes Jesse come back alive happens!" Helen retorted.

"Somehow I doubt that would ever happen." Jake said.

**I said slowly. "Well..."**

"See?"

"Yes, I can see, I don't like it though." Helen grumbled.

"Well that's the end of the entry. Dad's turn to read now." David replied, passing the book to his father.


	2. Chapter 2

**The first time she showed up, it was about an hour after I'd come home from the pool party. Around three in the morning, I guess. And what she did was, she stood by my bed and started screaming. **

"What a wonderful way to wake up!" Brad said sarcastically.

_**Really**_** screaming. **_**Really**_** loud. She woke me out of a dead sleep. I'd been lying there dreaming about Bryce Martinson.**

"Ew, don't want to know, don't want to know, don't want to know!" Brad wailed childishly as he covered his ears with his hands.

"Grow up, Brad." Jake rolled his eyes.

**In my dream, he and I were cruising along Seventeen Mile Drive in this red convertible. **

Brad sighed in relief, dropping his hands back to his sides while his brothers merely pulled faces at him.

**I don't know whose convertible it was. His, I guess, since I don't even have my driver's license yet. Bryce's soft wheat-coloured hair was blowing in the wind; and the sun was sinking into the sea, making the sky all red and orange and purple. We were going around these curves, you know, on the cliffs above the Pacific, and I wasn't even carsick, or anything.**

"I didn't know Suze gets carsick." David said. "She's never had problems before and she went through Jake's driving…"

"Hey!"

**It was one really terrific dream. **

**And then this woman starts wailing, practically in my ear. **

"Urgh!"

**I ask you: who needs that?**

"No one, I wouldn't even wish it on my worst enemy." Jake announced. "Sleep is the most precious thing in the world!"

"I'm starting to worry about my son's sanity." Andy murmured to his wife.

**Of course I sat up right away, completely wide awake. Having a walking dead woman show up in your bedroom screaming her head off can do that to you. Wake you up right away, I mean. **

**I sat there blinking because my room was really dark – well, it was night-time. You know, night-time, when normal people are asleep. **

**But not us mediators. Oh, no. **

**She was standing in this skinny patch of moonlight coming in from the bay window on the far side of my room. She had on a grey hooded sweatshirt, hood down, a t-shirt, Capri pants and Keds. Her hair was short, sort of mousy brown. It was hard to tell if she was young or old, what with all the screaming and everything, but I kind of figured her for my mom's age. **

David inhaled sharply: this was it. This was when Suze received the message from his mother, he had wondered what she looked like, how she was feeling - if she was all right...but he did wonder, if Suze got the message that early on....why didn't she inform him the next day and not wait all week?

**Which was why I didn't get out of bed and punch her right then and there. **

David glared at the book. He and Suze would definitely be having a little chat about compassion even if she did kick his bony ass into the next century.

**I probably should have. I mean, it wasn't like I could exactly yell back at her, not without waking the whole house. I was the only one in the house who could hear her. **

**Well, the only one alive, anyway. **

**After a while, I guess she noticed I was awake because she stopped screaming and reached up to wipe her eyes. She was crying pretty hard. **

"**I'm sorry," she said. **

"Sorry isn't good enough if it's good dreaming Zs we're missing out on!"

"I expected such an insensitive comment from Brad!" David snapped. "Not from you."

Jake looked taken back. "Whoa, little man, what's up with you?" Andy, Helen and Brad were all curious as well… David was not the type to get angry all of a sudden.

David merely sniffed. "Nothing."

**I said, "Yeah, well, you got my attention. Now what do you want?"**

"**I need you," she said sniffling. "I need you to tell someone something."**

**I said, "Okay. What?"**

"**Tell him..." she wiped her face with her hands. "Tell him it wasn't his fault. He didn't kill me."**

"Huh?"

"That's a little odd," Helen murmured. "Maybe she was one of those victims of domestic violence? Who thought it was all her fault?"

"Or she could have been one of those terminal illness patients, who had the plug pulled out." Andy said softly, his face filled with empathy and grief for this poor woman.

**This was sort of a new one. I raised my eyebrows. "Tell him he didn't **_**kill **_**you?" I asked just to be sure I'd heard her right. **

"Or maybe we all just got earwax in our ears." Brad suggested.

Jake peered in his younger brother's ear and wrinkled his nose up in disgust. "You certainly have too much."

"Oi!"

**She nodded. She was kind of pretty, I guess, in a waifish sort of way. Although it probably wouldn't have hurt if she'd eaten a muffin or two back when she'd been alive. **

"**You'll tell him?" she asked me, eagerly. "Promise?"**

"**Sure" I said. "I'll tell him. Only who am I telling?"**

**She looked at me funny. "Red, of course."**

_**Red**_**? Was she kidding?**

"Red? How the hell will Suze know who to pass the message to?"

"Brad I believe that is the smartest question you ever asked!" Jake teased. "I've been wondering...it could be Mom...she used to call Dave Red, remember?"

"There's no way its Mom" Brad said immediately.

"Why not?" David asked frowning.

"Because no matter how hard it was for her, she always kept a happy front whether it was us or the bag boy in the local supermarket. She never cried."

**But it was too late. She was gone. **

**Just like that. **

**Red. I turned around and beat on my pillow to get it fluffy again. Red. **

**Why me? I mean, really. To be interrupted while having a dream about Bryce Martinson just because some woman wants a guy named Red to know he didn't kill her...I swear, sometimes I am convinced my life is just a series of sketches for **_**America's Funniest Home Videos**_**, minus all the pants-dropping business. **

"I dunno - I got a few videos of the boys dropping their pants." Andy said, lips twitching as Helen giggled and his sons looked horrified at the mere idea.

**Except my life really isn't all that funny if you think about it. **

"No," Helen sighed, "Just dangerous and heartbreaking."

**I especially wasn't laughing when the minute I finally found a comfy spot on my pillow and was just about to close my eyes and go back to sleep, somebody else showed up in the sliver of moonlight in the middle of my room. **

"Three guesses who?"

**This time there wasn't any screaming. That was about the only thing I had to be grateful for. **

"**What?" I asked in a pretty rude voice. **

"Susannah! Now I know I brought you up with manners, young lady!"

**He said, shaking his head, "You didn't even ask her name."**

**I leaned up on both elbows. It was because of this guy that I'd taken to wearing a T-shirt and boxer shorts to bed. Not that I had been going around in floaty negligees before he'd come along - **

"I hope not!" Jake yelped.

**But I sure wasn't going to take them up now that I had a male room-mate. **

**Yeah, you read that right. **

"**Like she gave me the chance." I said. **

"**You could have asked," Jesse folded his arms across his chest. "But you didn't bother."**

"He's got a point you know."

"**Excuse me," I said sitting up. "This is **_**my **_**bedroom. I will treat spectral visitors to it any way I want to, thank you."**

**He said, "Susannah."**

**He had the softest voice imaginable. Softer, even, than that guy Tad's. It was like silk or something, his voice. It was really hard to be mean to a guy with a voice like that. **

Brad shuddered. "Ew, that's just....gross and disturbing and plain sickening."

"Maybe you should lay off the food." David suggested.

"Can we skip the girly description?" Brad pleaded. "I want to keep what I've eaten down, thank you very much."

"If I have to suffer this, you can too." Andy replied.

**But the thing was I had to be mean. Because even in the moonlight, I could make out the breadth of his strong shoulders, the vee where his old-fashioned white shirt fell open revealing dark, olive, complected skin, some chest hair and just about the best defined abs you've ever seen. I could also see the strong planes of his face, the tiny scar in one of his ink-black eyebrows, where something – or someone – had cut him once. **

**Kelly Prescott was wrong. **

"When is she _not_ wrong?"

**Bryce Martinson was not the cutest guy in Carmel. **

**Jesse was. **

**And if I wasn't mean to him, I knew I'd find myself falling in love with him. **

Helen squealed. "How exciting! She's already so attracted to him that she fears the inevitable!"

"You do realise that Suze's virtue is in danger, right?" Jake asked.

**And the problem with that, you see, is that he's dead. **

"**If you're going to do this, Susannah," he said, in that silky voice, "Don't do it halfway"**

"**Look Jesse," I said. My voice wasn't a bit silky. It was hard as rock. Or that's what I told myself, anyway. "I've been doing this a long time without any help from you, okay?"**

**He said, "She was obviously in great emotional need, and you-"**

"**What about you?" I demanded. "You two live on the same astral plane, if I'm not mistaken. Why didn't **_**you**_** get her rank and serial number?"**

"He's not going to understand that!"

**He looked confused. On him, let me tell you, confused looks good. **_**Everything **_**looks good on Jesse. **

Helen sighed dreamily while all the males but David look disgusted. There were some things you just don't want to hear from your sister/daughter's mouth. David however was silently rooting for Jesse to help Suze be a bit more compassionate.

"**Rank and what?" he asked. **

**Sometimes I forget that Jesse died a hundred and fifty or so years ago. He's not exactly up on the lingo of the twenty first century if you know what I mean. **

"**Her **_**name**_**" I translated. "Why didn't you get her name?"**

**He shook his head. "It doesn't work that way."**

"So how does it work?"

"How does what work, Brad?"

"How does the spiritual plane work?"

"How the hell should I know? Do I look dead?"

"Language, Jake!"

**Jesse's always saying stuff like that. Cryptic stuff about the spirit world that I, not being a spirit, am still somehow expected to understand. I tell you, it burns me up. Between that and the Spanish – which I don't speak, and which he spouts occasionally, especially when he's mad – I have no idea what Jesse's saying a third of the time. **

**Which is way irritating. I mean, I have to share my bedroom with the guy because it was in this room that he got shot, or whatever, in like 1850, back when the house had been a kind of hotel for prospectors and cowboys – or, as in Jesse's case, rich ranchers' sons who were supposed to be marrying their beautiful, rich cousins, but were tragically murdered on the way to the ceremony. **

"That roughly sums it up." David muttered.

**At least, that's what had happened to Jesse. Not that he's **_**told**_** me that or anything. No I had to figure it out on my own...though my stepbrother Doc helped. It isn't something, it turns out, that Jesse seems much interested in discussing. Which is sort of weird because in my experience all the dead ever want to talk about is how they got that way. **

**Not Jesse though. All he ever wants to talk about is how much I suck at being a mediator. **

Andy smiled fondly. "Not very good at taking constructive criticism, is she?"

**Maybe he had a point though. I mean, according to Father Dominic, I was supposed to be serving as a spiritual conductor between the land of the living and the land of the dead. But mostly all I was doing was complaining because nobody was letting me get any sleep. **

"Don't blame her, I would." Jake mumbled.

"**Look," I said. "I fully intend to help that woman. Just not now, okay? Now I need to get some sleep. I'm totally wrecked."**

"**Wrecked?" he echoed. **

"**Yeah. Wrecked." sometimes I suspect Jesse doesn't understand third of what I'm saying either, though at least I'm speaking in English.**

"**Whacked." I translated. "Beat. All tuckered out. Tired."**

"**Oh." he said. He stood there for a minute, looking at me with those dark, sad eyes. Jesse had those kind of eyes some guys have, the kind of sad eyes that make you think you might want to try and make them not so sad. **

Andy and Jake looked alarmed, Brad let out a screech of disgust while Helen smiled dreamily. David just silently hoped that Suze used protection because it's not like Jesse was dead anymore.

**That's why I have to make a point to be so mean to him. I'm pretty sure there's a rule against that. I mean, in Father Dom.'s mediation guidelines. About mediators and ghosts getting together and trying to, um, cheer each other up. **

"That's one way of putting it…" Andy said wryly.

**If you know what I mean. **

Brad shuddered. "Trust me, we do."

"**Goodnight, then, Susannah." Jesse said, in that deep, silky voice of his. **

"**Goodnight." I said. My voice isn't deep or silky. Right then, in fact, it sounded kind of squeaky. It usually does that when I'm talking to Jesse. Nobody else. Just Jesse. **

"Nobody else. Just Jesse!" Helen repeated with a squeal. "A sign of true love!"

**Which is great. The only time I want to sound sexy and sophisticated and I come out sounding squeaky. Swell. **

**I rolled over, bringing the covers up over my face, which I could tell was blushing. When I peeked out from underneath them a minute or so later I saw that he was gone. **

**That's Jesse's MO. He shows up when I least expect him to, and disappears when I least want him to. That's how ghosts operate. **

**Take my dad. He's been paying these totally random social calls on me since he died a decade ago. Does he show up when I really need him? Like when my mom moved me out here to a totally different coast and I didn't know anyone at first and I was totally lonely? Heck, no. No sign of good old Dad. He was always pretty irresponsible, but I'd really thought that one time I'd need him...**

Helen sighed sadly and took hold of Andy's hand. He squeezed hers reassuringly.

"Don't worry dear, she has me and the boys and Father Dominic and even Jesse to be her reliable male now."

She smiled up at him sadly. "I know."

**I couldn't really accuse Jesse of being irresponsible though. If anything he was a little too responsible. He had even saved my life, not once, but twice. And I'd only known him a couple weeks. I guess you could say I kind of owe him one. **

**So when Father Dominic asked me back in his office whether or not any ghost stuff was going on I sort of lied and said no. I guess it's a sin to lie, especially to a priest - **

"Yep, a definite sentence to purgatory according to the Catholic religion however some people debate that purgatory was created by the Catholic church in an attempt to rob money from the wealthy. Lutherans in particular were known to-"

"Dave shut up." Jake yawned, making David blush brightly. His ears were particularly pink.

**But here's the thing. **

**I've never exactly told Father Dom about Jesse. **

**I just thought he might get upset, you know, being a priest and all, to hear there was this dead guy hanging out in my bedroom. **

"Yeah I can imagine it's a bit heart-attack inducing for Father Dom."

**And the fact is Jesse had obviously been hanging around the place for as long as he had for a reason. Part of the mediator's job is to help ghosts figure out what that reason is. usually, once the ghosts knows, he can take care of whatever it is that's keeping him stuck in that midway point between life and death, and move on. **

**But sometimes – and I suspected it was this way in Jesse's case – the dead guy doesn't **_**know **_**why he's still sticking around. He doesn't have the slightest idea. That's when I have to use what Father Dom. calls my intuitive skills. **

"Which sadly she lacks....as well as tact." Helen sighed.

**The thing is I think I got sort of short-changed in this department because I'm not very good at being intuitive. What I'm a lot better at is when they – the dead – know perfectly well why they are sticking around but they just don't want to get to where they're supposed to go because what they've got in store there probably isn't that great. These are the worst kinds of ghosts, the ones whose butts I have no choice but to kick. **

Everyone rolled their eyes.

**They happen to be my specialty. **

**Father Dominic, of course, thinks we should treat all ghosts with dignity and respect, without use of fists.**

"Well of course you should! Just because they're dead doesn't mean they're not _people!_" Helen cried out.

"Yeah but Mom, she treats people like that as well." Brad said.

"No Brad, that's just you."

**I disagree. Some ghosts just deserve to have the snot knocked out of them. And I don't mind doing it a bit. **

David bit his lip worriedly. He didn't know whether or not he could forgive Suze if she punched his mother. He adored his stepsister but his mother was far more meaningful to him in a more powerful way. She was also one of the kindest women he knew and she never deserved to be hit.

**Not the lady who'd showed up in my room though. She seemed like a decent sort, just sort of messed up.**

David let go of his breath in relief and breathed deeply as Andy continued to read, everyone unaware of the inner turmoil he'd fought seconds ago.

**The reason why I didn't tell Father Dom about her was that, truthfully, I was kind of ashamed of how I'd treated her. Jesse had been right to yell at me. I'd been a bitch to her, and knowing that he was right, I'd been a bitch to him too. **

"She needs to control her language." Andy said sternly causing his sons to roll their eyes. "But at least she just admitted she was wrong. Hopefully she'll listen to Jesse and Father Dominic, and help this woman soon."

**So you see, I couldn't tell Father Dom about either Jesse or the lady Red hadn't killed. I figured the lady I'd take care of soon, anyway. And Jesse...**

**Well, Jesse, I didn't know what to do about. I was pretty much convinced there wasn't anything I could do about Jesse. **

"Or maybe she just doesn't want to do anything about Jesse." Helen said knowingly.

**I was also kind of scared I felt this way because I didn't really want to do anything about Jesse. **

"See!"

**Much as it sucked having to change clothes in the bathroom instead of in my room – Jesse seemed to have an aversion to the bathroom which was a new addition to the house since he'd lived there – and not being able to wear floaty negligees to bed, I sort of liked having Jesse around. And if I told Father Dom. about him, Father Dom. would get all hot and bothered and want to help him to get to the other side. **

**But what good would that do me? Then I'd never get to see him again. **

**Was this selfish of me?**

"Yes." all the Ackermans said monotonously.

**I mean, I kind of figured if Jesse wanted to go to the other side, then he would have done something about it. He wasn't one of those help-me-I'm-lost kind of ghosts like the one who'd shown up with the message for Red. No way. Jesse was more one of those don't-mess-with-me-I'm-so-mysterious kind of ghosts. You know the ones. With the accent and the killer abs. **

Brad groaned in disgust.

**So I admit it. I lied, so what? So sue me. **

"Maybe I should." David joked lightly, bewildering everyone. It really wasn't like David to joke and some of them, Andy and Helen, especially noticed how pale he looked and how sad his eyes were.

"**Nope." I said. "Nothing to report, Father Dom. Supernatural or otherwise."**

**Was it my imagination or did Father Dominic look a little disappointed?**

"Probably not." Jake muttered.

**To tell you the truth, I think he sort of like that I'd wrecked the school. Seriously. Much as he complained about it, I don't think he minded my mediation techniques so much. **

"I don't think he likes your violent ways, young lady! However, I do think he likes having you has a protégé, gives him someone to teach the one gift he thought he alone had." Smart words, Helen.

**It certainly gave him something to get on the soapbox about, and as the principal of a tiny private school in Carmel, California, I can't imagine he really had all that much to complain about. Other than me I mean. **

"**Well," he said, trying not to let me see how let down he was by my lack of anything to report. "All right, then," he brightened. "I understand there was a three-car pile-up out in Sunnyvale. Maybe we should drive out there and see if any of those poor lost souls need our aid."**

"Father Dominic!" Helen shrieked, immediately changing her tone from moments ago. "How dare you encourage my daughter to sniff around crime scenes and get into supernatural trouble! She only just escaped that Chambers girl!"

**I looked at him like he was out of his mind. "Father Dom." I said, shocked. **

**He fiddled with his glasses. "Yes, well...I mean, I just thought..."**

"**Look, **_**padre**_**," I said, getting up. "You gotta remember something. I don't feel the same way about this **_**gift **_**of ours that you do. I never asked for it and I never liked it. I just want to be normal, you know?"**

**Father Dom looked taken aback. "**_**Normal**_**?" he echoed. As in, who would ever want to be **_**that**_**?**

"Erm....everyone?"

"Do you know the concept of being normal is entirely created by society who want to make all people clones of the establishment buying all the latest fashion and technology and-"

"David, seriously, we don't care." Jake said.

"**Yes, **_**normal,**_**" I said. "I want to spend my time worrying about the normal things sixteen year old girls worry about. Like homework and how come no boy wants to go out with me and why do my stepbrothers have to be such losers. I don't exactly relish the ghost-busting stuff, ok? So if they need me let them find me. But I'm sure as heck not going looking for them."**

**Father Dominic didn't get out of his chair. He couldn't really, with that cast. Not without help. "No boy wants to go out with you?" he asked, looking perplexed. **

"Ah....already taking the role of a parent I see. Going to demand why no one wants to go out with his little girl?"

"Jake, this is Father Dominic we're talking about."

"**I know," I said. "It's one of the wonders of the modern world. Me being so good-looking and all. Especially with these." I raised my oozing hands. **

Brad laughed while the others snickered at the sarcasm. Suze could be incredibly witty when she wanted to be.

**Father Dominic was still confused though. **

"**But you're terribly popular, Susannah." he said. "I mean after all you were voted vice president of the sophomore class your first week at the Mission Academy. And I thought Bryce Martinson was quite fond of you."**

"**Yeah." I said. "He was." Until the ghost of his ex-girlfriend – whom I was forced to exorcize – broke his collarbone and he had to change schools, and then promptly forgot all about me. **

"Eh, he was an idiot and a cry-baby. Not worth Suze's time."

"**Well then" Father Dominic said, as if that settled it. "You haven't anything to worry about in that category. The boy category I mean."**

Everyone chuckled. "Ah poor Father Dom."

**I just looked at him. The poor old guy. It was almost enough to make me feel sorry for him. **

"**Gotta get back to class." I said, gathering my books. "I've been spending so much time in the principal's office lately people are gonna think I've got ties with the establishment and ask me to resign from office."**

"Or think you have a passionate affair with Father Dom., like this idiot over here." Jake said rapping Brad on the head.

"Hey!"

"**Certainly." Father Dominic said. "Of course. Here's your hall pass. And try to remember what we discussed Susannah. A mediator is someone who helps others resolve conflicts. Not someone who, er, kicks them in the face."**

**I smiled at him. "I'll keep that in mind."**

"Not for long, I bet."

**And I would too. Right after I kicked Red's butt. **

"See!"

David grimaced, he hated the idea of fighting Suze - he would end up in hospital without a single doubt. It was a good thing that once she did work out he was Red all urges to kick his butt was gone....he imagined it had to do with the reason why she smelt of fish.

**Whoever he was. **

"And that's the end of the entry." Andy said passing the book to Helen. "I have to say, I can't wait to unwrap this mystery. I have a suspicion that it won't be as dangerous as Heather Chambers."

"What mystery was there with her?" Jake demanded. "It was very obvious that there was a homicidal ghost after my best friend. I don 't think Suze is going to handle this well, she's good at blunt things not subtle....it'll go all wrong."

Helen shivered. "Oh don't say that, please!"

"Sorry Mom."


	3. Chapter 3

_Author's Note: I'm sorry for such a long wait but things have been rough for both me and my Beta. We're both studying for our exams and got a load of coursework on our plates, there might be some more updates around Easter when the coursework is out of the way but I'm not promising anything. Sorry for those who I bit their heads off when they PMed me but this is the most stressful term for English schools. _

**I found out who he was easily enough, it turned out. All I had to do was ask at lunch if anybody knew of a guy named Red. **

David frowned, as far as he knew none of Suze's friends knew his mother's private nickname for him, so that would mean that Suze had taken a wrong lead which makes sense since it took a week for her to finally pass the message on.

**Generally it's not that easy. I won't even tell you about the number of phone books I've scoured, the hours I spent on the Internet. Not to mention the lame excuses I've had to make to my mother, trying to explain the phone bills. I've racked up calling Information. **

"I always wondered why my phone bills were so high" Helen said.

"What did Suze say, when you asked her?" Andy asked.

"Something about shoes" Helen mumbled.

"**I'm sorry, Mom, I just really had to find out if there was a store within the fifty-mile radius that carries Manolo Blahnik loafers..."**

"You believed that?!" Jake said incredulously.

"Yes!" Helen said defensively. "It's nice to have a level of trust with your child; it's not my fault that she abuses it for the sake of some ghosts!"

Jake looked taken back but didn't say anything, his brothers and father exchanged worried looks but none of them dared to breathe a word in case Helen bit their heads off as well.

**This one was so easy though it almost made me think. Hey, maybe this mediator stuff's not so bad. **

"It won't last long" David predicted.

"Oh, don't say that!" Helen pleaded with a shiver.

**That, of course, was then. I hadn't actually **_**found**_** Red at that point. **

"**Anybody know of a guy named Red?" I asked the crowd I had started eating lunch with, on what I guess was going to be regular basis. **

"**Sure" Adam said. He was eating Cheetos out of a family-size bag. "Last name Tide, right? Enjoys killing harmless sea otters and other aquatic creatures?"**

David, Jake, Andy and Helen snorted while Brad looked confused. "I don't get it" he said causing his family to laugh. "No seriously I don't, whose Red Tide?" the only answer he received was even more laughter until Helen calmed down enough to read.

"**Not that Red" I said. "This one is a human being. Probably adult. Probably local"**

"He's not human?! Does that mean he's some sort of vampire?"

David rolled his eyes. "Don't be ridiculous Brad, there's no such thing as vampires"

"Ah! But people say that about ghosts and what are we reading? Our stepsister's diary admitting that ghosts are real. You yourself had admitted ghosts were real!"

"True but nothing in my research suggested that vampires were real" David said with a smile, taking pity on his older brother he decided to tell him the truth. "Besides Red Tide is Discoloration of seawater caused by dinoflagellates during periodic blooms (population increases). Toxic substances released by these organisms into the water may be lethal to fish and other marine life and they irritate the human respiratory system. Coastal resorts sometimes close when breaking waves release the toxic substances into the air. The causes of red tide are uncertain; it may require the confluence of several natural phenomena, in which human influence may or may not play a part"

"Huh?"

"It's a plant" Jake translated, rolling his eyes. "That kills sea life"

"Ooh"

"**Beaumont" Cee Cee said. She was eating pudding from a plastic cup. A big fat seagull was sitting not even a foot away from her, eyeing the spoon each time Cee Cee dipped it back into the cup, then raised it again to her lips. The Mission Academy has no cafeteria. We eat outside every day, even, apparently, in January. But this of course was no New York January. Here in Carmel, it was a balmy seventy degrees and sunny outside. Back home, according to the Weather Channel, it had just snowed six inches. **

**I'd been in California almost three weeks, but so far it hadn't rained once. I was still waiting to find out where we were supposed to eat if it was raining during lunch. **

"Cee Cee told you before; we eat in the homerooms and play board games!" Brad said patronisingly to the book.

"And as Suze said before, she thought Cee Cee was playing a trick on her" David reminded his brother with an eye roll.

**I had already learned the hard way what happens if you feed the seagulls. **

"Brad still hasn't learned" Jake muttered.

"Hey!"

"**Thaddeus Beaumont is a real estate developer" Cee Cee finished up the pudding and started on a banana she pulled out from a paper bag at her hip. Cee Cee never buys school lunches. She has a thing about corn dogs. **

"Maybe I should start doing packed lunches" Andy mused. "After all it's not healthy for you boys and Suze to be only eating hot dogs and fries everyday"

**Cee Cee went on, peeling her banana, "His friends call him Red. Don't ask me why, since he doesn't have red hair. Why do you want to know, anyway?"**

"Hmm....what lousy lie is she going to come up with now?"

**This was always the tricky part. You know the why-do-you-want-to-know? Part. Because the fact is, except for Father Dom, no one knows about me. About the mediator thing, I mean. Not Cee Cee, not Adam. Not even my mother. Doc, my youngest stepbrother, suspects, but he doesn't **_**know**_**. Not all of it. **

"Oh trust me I know, all my suspicions and hunches are turning out right" David muttered.

**My best friend, Gina, back in Brooklyn, is probably the closest to having figured it out of anyone I know, and that's only because she happened to be there when Madame Zara, this tarot-card reader Gina had made me go to, looked at me with shock on her face and said, "You talk to the dead"**

**Gina had thought it was cool. Only she never knew – not really – what it meant. Because what it means, of course, is that I never get enough sleep, have bruises I can't explain given to me by people no one else can see, and, oh, yeah, I can't change clothes in my bedroom because the hundred-and-fifty-year-old ghost of this dead cowboy might see me naked. **

"He better never see her naked" Jake hissed.

**Any questions?**

"Yeah, why-"

"Brad, don't even think about making an insult into a question or it's another week of grounding for you!"

"Awww but Dad"

**To Cee Cee, I just said, "Oh, it's just something I heard on TV" it wasn't so hard, lying to friends. Lying to my mother though, now **_**that**_** got a little sticky. **

"Well at least she feels some remorse and doesn't underestimate me" Helen grumbled.

"**Wasn't that the name of the guy you danced with at Kelly's?" Adam asked. "You remember, Suze. Tad, the hunchback with the missing teeth and the terrible body odour? You came up to me afterwards and threw your arms around me and begged me to marry you so you'd be protected from him for the rest of your life"**

"Idiot"

"Prat"

"Brad, Jake, stop insulting Adam, he's a very sweet boy who obviously has very bad sense of humour"

"And you don't, Dad?"

"Oi, less of the cheek young man"

"**Oh, yeah" I said. "Him"**

"**That's his father" Cee Cee said. Cee Cee knows everything in the world because she is editor – and publisher, chief writer and photographer – for the **_**Mission News**_**, the school paper. "Tad Beaumont is Red Beaumont's only child"**

"**Aha" I said. It made a little more sense then. I mean, why the dead woman had come to see me. Obviously she felt a connection to Red through his son. **

David raised an eyebrow. "I don't think it would be that vague" he muttered.

"**What aha?" Cee Cee looked interested. Then again, Cee Cee was always interested. She's like a sponge of water, she absorbed facts.**

"Like you Dave, maybe you two should procreate and have evil genius babies to take over the world" Brad teased causing David to blush.

"No sex until after marriage" Andy said instantly.

"**Don't tell me," she said, "you've got it bad for that tool of a kid of his, I mean, what was that guy's problem? He never even asked your name"**

**This was true. I hadn't even noticed it either. But Cee Cee was right. Tad hadn't even asked my name. **

**Good thing I wasn't interested in him. **

"And she went out with him because....?"

"**I've heard bad things about Tad Beaumont" Adam said shaking his head. "I mean besides the fact that he's carrying around his undigested twin in his bowels, well, there's the embarrassing facial tick, controlled only by strong doses of Prozac. And you know what Prozac does to a guy's libido-"**

Brad burst out with hysterical laughter. "Jeeze what a loser!"

"**What's Mrs Beaumont like?" I asked. **

"**There's no Mrs Beaumont" Cee Cee said. **

**Adam sighed. "Product of divorce" he said. "Poor Tad. No wonder he has such issues about commitment. I've heard he usually sees three, four girls at a time. But that might be on account of the sexual addiction. I heard there's a twelve step group for that"**

"Something tells me that Suze won't buy into Adam's games" Helen said with a little smile. "After all she is far too stubborn for that sort of thing"

**Cee Cee ignored him. "I think she died a few years ago"**

"**Oh" I said. Could the ghost who'd shown up in my bedroom have been Mr Beaumont's deceased wife? It seemed worth a try. "Anybody got a quarter?"**

"**Why?" Adam wanted to know. **

"**I need to make a call" I said. **

**Four people in our lunch crowd handed me a cell phone. Seriously.**

"Hmm...Maybe we should get Suze a mobile for Christmas" Andy said thoughtfully. "After all she's definitely going to be in situations where she needs to let us know where she is and she can't keep using someone else's or the pay phone"

"What?! Suze gets a mobile and I, who have begged you for years, don't? How the hell is that fair?" Brad whined.

"Language Brad" Andy said unfazed.

**I selected the one with the least intimidating amount of buttons,**

"See, we'll just get her an old cheap model. Which I know you won't want Brad since you want the latest gadgets and I'm not made out of money" Andy looked down at his list and added 'buy Suze a mobile' and 'make kids lunches for school' on it.

**Then dialled information, and asked for a listing for Thaddeus Beaumont. The operator told me the only listing they had was for a Beaumont Industries. I said. "Go for it"**

**Strolling over to the monkey bars – the Mission Academy holds grades K through twelve, and the playground where we eat lunch comes complete with a sandbox, though I wouldn't touch it, what with the seagulls and everything – so I could have a little privacy, I told the receptionist who picked up with a cheerful, "Beaumont Industries. How may I help you?" that I needed to speak to Mr Beaumont. **

**I thought about it. I could have said, "Someone who knows what really happened to his wife" but the thing is, I didn't really. I didn't even know why it was, exactly, that I suspected his wife – if the woman even was his wife – of lying and that Red really had killed her. It's kind of depressing when you think about it. I mean, me being so young and yet so cynical and suspicious. **

"Oh my poor baby!"

"Mum, calm down, this is Suze we're talking about....she was always the Queen of the Dead People" Andy whacked Brad round the head. "Ow! Dad, I was joking!"

**So I said, "Susannah Simon" and then I felt lame. Because why would an important man like Red Beaumont take a call from Susannah Simon? He didn't know me. **

**Sure enough , the receptionist took me off hold a second later, and said "Mr Beaumont is on another call at the moment. May I take a message?"**

"**Uh" I said, thinking fast. "Yeah. Tell him...I'm calling from the Junipero Serra Mission Academy newspaper. I'm a reporter and we're doing a story on...the ten most influential people in the Salinas County"**

"Wow...a half decent lie for once"

"What there wasn't an actual article in the school newspaper?" Helen asked scandalized.

"And now I know why it was so easy for Suze to lie to you" Jake said. "You'd believe anything"

Andy smacked Jake round the ear hole. "Show some respect"

"Sorry Mom" Jake murmured.

**I gave her my home number. "And can you tell him not to call until after three? Because I don't get out of school till then"**

**Once the receptionist knew I was a kid, she got even nicer. "Sure thing sweetheart," she said to me in this sugary voice. "I'll let Mr Beaumont know. Buh-bye"**

"Suze won't like that"

**I hung up. Buh-bye bite me. **

"See!"

**Mr Beaumont was going to be plenty of surprised when he called me back, and got the Queen of the Night People, instead of Lois Lane. **

"See! Look! Suze calls herself the Queen of the Night People, so why can't I?"

"Because it's rude, Bradley, now stop this nonsense before I have you write a very long letter of apology to Suze"

**But the thing was, Thaddeus 'Red' Beaumont never even bothered calling back. I guess when you're a gazillionaire, being name one of the ten most influential people in the Salinas County by a dinky school paper wasn't such a big deal. I hung around the house all day after school and nobody called. At least, not for me. **

**I don't know why I thought it would be so easy. I guess I'd been lulled into a false sense of security by the fact that I'd managed to get his name so easily.**

David bit his lip, concerned. No matter how angry he was at the poor behaviour Suze had displayed to his mother, he didn't want anything dangerous to happen to her. she got a lead far to easily, yes it was fake but it was too easy....Beaumont had disappeared to LA not so long after this....Suze smelt of fish.....Suze was brought home by the police after being missing all day...yes something dreadful might have happened and he hated the mere thought of Suze getting hurt....even if she can defend herself from the devil himself.

**I was sitting in my room, admiring my poison oak in the dying rays of the setting sun, when my mom called me down to dinner. **

**Dinner is this very big deal in the Ackerman household. Basically, my mom had already informed me that she'd kill me if I did not show up for dinner every night unless I had arranged my absence in advance with her.**

"I did not say that at all. I merely implied there would be severe consequences if she missed dinner without telling me beforehand"

**Her new husband, Andy, aside from being a master carpenter, is this really good cook and had been making these big dinners every night for his kids since they grew teeth, or something.**

"Before that, I've been cooking since I was eight years old, my mother taught me, said the best way to a woman's heart was to make her feel worshipped!" Andy said in a rather boastful voice.

"It should be the best way to a man's heart is through his stomach" Brad said. "Women should be worshipping the men"

"Don't be sexist Brad or I might have to arrange a night course of home economics for you"

Brad looked horrified at the mere thought and immediately kept quiet while his brothers attempted to hide their snickers with a cough.

**Sunday pancake breakfasts too. Can I just tell you that the smell of maple syrup in the morning makes me retch?**

"It does?!" Andy looked horrified at the mere idea of making his stepdaughter sick. "I'll have to find something else to cook on Sundays then"

"!" the three boys howled.

**What is wrong, I ask you, with a simple bagel with cream cheese and maybe a little lox on the side with a wedge lemon and a couple of capers. **

"Hmm....i could try that this weekend, I guess" Andy said. "Where could I find some good bagels? Maybe I should try to bake my own..."

"Damn! Who the hell wants to be healthy?"

"Language, Brad"

"**There she is," my mom said, when I came shuffling into the kitchen in my after-school clothes: ripped-up jeans, black silk tee and motorcycle boots. It is outfits like this that have caused my stepbrothers to suspect that I am in a gang, in spite of my strenuous denials. **

Helen pursed her lips at the description of her daughter's clothes; she really hated that particular outfit and hoped that she'll be able to throw it out before her daughter left for college. Misreading their stepmother's look, Jake hastily explained himself. "It wasn't the clothes honest! It was the smoking, and attitude and the fact I had only just dug her out from under the rubble of our school roof!"

**My mom made this big production out of coming over to me and kissing me on the top of the head. This is because ever since my mom met Andy Ackerman – or Handy Andy as he's known on the cable home improvement show he hosts – married him and then forced me to move to California with her to live with him and his three sons, she's been incredibly, disgustingly happy. **

**I tell you between that and the maple syrup, I don't know which is more revolting. **

"Oh charming!"

"Actually I have to agree with that, the pair of you are revolting in your lovey dovey moments"

"**Hello honey," my mom said, smushing me hair all around. "How did your day go?"**

"**Oh," I said. "Great"**

**She didn't hear the sarcasm in my voice. Sarcasm has been completely wasted on my mother ever since she met Andy. **

"I just merely chose to ignore it" Helen corrected her daughter.

"**And how," she asked, "was the student government meeting?"**

"**Bitchin'" **

**That was Dopey, trying to be funny by imitating my voice. **

"But he isn't funny because a stick has more sense of humour than him" Jake added with a grin. "Also he's imitations are so crap it's hard to tell the difference between his Father Dom and his Sister Ernestine"

Brad sulked.

"**What do you mean, bitching?" Andy, over at the stove, was flipping quesadillas that were sizzling on this griddle thing he'd set out over the burners. "What was so bitching about it?"**

"**Yeah, Brad" I said. "What was bitching about it? Were you and Debbie Mancuso playing footsie underneath your desks or something?"**

Jake and David snickered as Brad flushed a bright red.

**Dopey got all red in the face. He is a wrestler. His neck is as thick as my thigh. When his face gets red, his neck gets even redder. It's a joy to see. **

"**What are you talking about?" Dopey demanded. "I don't even like Debbie Mancuso"**

"Liar" Jake coughed.

"Oh shuddup!"

"**Sure, you don't" I said. "That's why you sat next to her at lunch today"**

**Dopey's neck turned the colour of blood. **

"**David!" Andy, over by the stove started yelling his head off. "Jake! Get a move on, you two. Soup's on"**

**Andy's two other sons, Sleepy and Doc, came shuffling in. Well, Sleepy shuffled. Doc bounded. Doc was the only one of Andy's kids who I could ever remember to call by his real name. That's because with red hair and these ears that stick out really far from his head, he looked like a cartoon character. Plus he was really smart, and in him I saw a lot of potential help with my homework, even if I was three grades ahead of him. **

Jake and Brad now laughed, Jake ruffling a blushing David's hair. "At least she respects your brain, Doc"

**Sleepy, on the other hand, is of no use whatsoever to me, except as a guy I could bum rides to and from school with.**

"I might not now" Jake sniffed.

**At eighteen, Sleepy was in full possession of both his licence and a vehicle, a beat-up old Rambler with an iffy starter, but you were taking your life into your hands riding with him since he was hardly ever fully awake due to his night job as a pizza delivery boy.**

Both Andy and Helen glared at Jake who looked up innocently.

**He was saving up, as he was fond of reminding us on the few occasions when he actually spoke, for a Camaro, and as near as I could tell that Camaro was all he ever thought about. **

"That's not true! I think about my homework, and how Bryce is doing, and how Kelly is so annoying and how Brad needs to grow up and I worry about everyone in the family David and Suze especially since they're both so troubled"

"I'm not troubled"

"Sure you are no one else spends so much time studying unless they have no life"

"Brad, shut up" Jake and David said in unison.

"_**She**_** sat by **_**me**_**" Dopey bellowed. "I do not like Debbie Mancuso"**

"Yeah right" Jake snorted.

"I don't!" Brad protested. "I was using her to make Kelly jealous"

"Didn't work" Jake snickered. "She's moved on from me to Paul Slater"

"Brad, how could you be so thoughtless of this young lady's feelings?" Andy scolded. "You'll definitely write her a letter of apology for using her and messing with her emotions"

"But "

"Don't, but Dad me. You will do what you're told"

"Yes, Dad" Brad mumbled.

"**Surrender the fantasy" I advised him as I sidled past him. My mom had given me a bowl of salsa to take to the table. "I just hope," I whispered in his ears as I went by, "that you two practised safe sex that night at Kelly's pool party. I'm not ready to be a step-aunt just yet"**

"**Shut up" Dopey yelled at me. "You...you....Fungus Hands!"**

**I put one of my fungus hands over my heart, and pretended like he'd stabbed me there. **

"**Gosh" I said. "That really hurts. Making fun of people's allergic reactions is so incredibly incisive and witty"**

"Yes, Brad that was really thoughtless of you"

"**Yeah, dork" Sleepy said to Dopey as he walked by. "What about you and cat dander, huh?"**

**Dopey, in out of his depth, began to look desperate. **

"So a normal day then?"

"Hey!"

"Jake please stop insulting your brother"

"**Debbie Mancuso," he yelled, "and I are not having sex!"**

"I should certainly hope not" David said. "But if you are, Brad, I hope you're using condoms. While a good quality latex condom has a failure rate of about two per cent when used as directed, typically the failure rate averages closer to twelve prevent. That makes them only about eighty-five prevent effective against preventing pregnancy. If used with a sp-"

"David dear" Helen interrupted softly, "there's no need to start a lecture" she immediately continued to read before anyone could ask why she interrupted David.

**I saw my mom and Andy exchange a quick, bewildered glance. **

"**I should certainly hope not" Doc, Dopey's little brother, said as he breezed past us. "But if you are, Brad, I hope you're using condoms. While a good quality latex condom has a failure rate of about two per cent when used as directed, typically the failure rate averages closer to twelve prevent. That makes them only about eighty-five prevent effective against preventing pregnancy. If used with a spermicide, the effectiveness improves dramatically. And condoms are our best defence – though not as good, of course, as abstention- against some STDs including HIV"**

"Oh" David blushed.

Brad snickered. "What sort of genius are you, if you can't remember what you've said before?"

"A genius that doesn't bother remembering conversations with dumb people" David shot back.

"Good one" Jake laughed giving David a high five while Andy glared disapprovingly and Brad looked stumped.

**Everyone in the kitchen – my mother, Andy, Dopey, Sleepy and I – stared at Doc, who is, as I think I mentioned before, twelve. **

"**You" I said finally, "have way too much time on your hands"**

**Doc shrugged. "It helps to be informed. While I myself am not sexually active at this current time, I hope to become so in the near future" he nodded towards the stove. "Dad, your chimichangas, or whatever they are, are on fire"**

**While Andy jumped to put out his cheese fire, my mother stood there, apparently, for once in her life, at a loss for words. **

"**I-" she said. "I...oh. My"**

"Well what could I say? One of my stepsons was having sex, my youngest one was preparing for it and the house was on fire!"

"I wasn't having sex!"

"Oh shut up already" Jake snapped. "We know!"

**Dopey wasn't about to let Doc have the last word. "I am not" he said, again, "having sex with-"**

"**Aw, Brad" Sleepy said. "Put a sock in it, will ya?"**

**Dopey, of course, wasn't lying. I'd seen for myself that they'd only been playing tonsil hockey. Dopey and Debbie's fiery passion was the reason I had to keep slathering my hands with the cortisone cream. But what was the gun of having stepbrothers if you couldn't torture them?**

"Evil, sheer evil"

**Not that I was going to tell anyone what I'd seen, of course. I am many things, but not a snitch. But don't get me wrong. I would have liked Dopey to have gotten caught sneaking out while he was grounded. I mean. I don't think he'd exactly learned anything from his 'punishment'. He would still probably refer to my friend Adam as a fag the next time he saw him. **

Andy glared at his son who shifted uncomfortably.

**Only he wouldn't do it in my presence. Because, wrestler or not, I could kick Dopey's butt from here to Clinton Ave., my street back in Brooklyn. **

"Much to Brad's embarrassment" Jake snickered.

**But I wasn't going to be the one to turn him in. It just wasn't classy, you know?**

"And Suze is a very classy girl"

"**And did you," my mother asked me with a smile, "feel that the student government meeting was as bitching as Brad seems to think it was, Suze?"**

**I sat down at my place at the dining table. As soon as I did so, Max, the Ackerman family dog came snuffling along and put his head in my lap. I pushed it off my lap. He put it right back. Although I lived there less than a month, Max had already figured out that I am the person in the household most likely to have leftovers on my plate. **

"Much to Dad's everlasting disappointment"

**Mealtime was, of course, the only time Max paid attention to me. The rest of the time, he avoided me like the plague. He especially avoided my bedroom. Animals, unlike humans, are very perceptive towards the paranormal phenomena, and Max sensed Jesse, and accordingly stayed far away from the parts of the house where he normally hung out. **

"So how does that damn cat live with it?" Brad asked. "Oh, wait, its Suze's pet so of course it's a freak of nature"

"Brad!"

"**Sure" I said, taking a sip of ice water. "It was bitching"**

"**And what," my mother wanted to know, "was decided at this meeting?"**

"**I made a motion to cancel the spring dance" I said. "Sorry, Brad. I know how much you were counting on escorting Debbie to it"**

**Dopey shot me a dirty look from across the table. **

"**Why on earth," my mother said, "would you want to cancel the spring dance, Suzie?"**

"**Because it's a stupid waste of our very limited funds" I said. **

"**But a dance" my mother protested. "I always loved going to school dances when I was your age"**

**That, I wanted to say, is because you always had a **_**date,**_** Mom. Because you were pretty and nice and boys **_**liked**_** you. You weren't a pathological freak, like I am, with fungus hands and a secret ability to talk to the dead. **

"Oh Suzie"

"Face it Mom, this is how she's going to be in every book. You can't keep saying 'oh Suzie' it won't change anything" Jake said.

"No, but I feel terrible! I never meant to make her feel like a pathological freak!"

"That's why when we get out of here you need to talk to her" Andy said softly.

**Instead I said, "Well you'd have been the minority in our class. My motion was seconded and passed by twenty-seven votes"**

"**Well" my mother said. "What are you going to do with the money instead?"**

"**Kegger" I said, shooting a look at Dopey. **

"**Don't even joke about that" my mother said sternly. "I'm very concerned about the amount of teen drinking that goes on around here." my mother is a television news reporter. She does the morning news on a local station out of Monterey. Her best thing is looking grave while reading off a Tele-PrompTer about grisly auto accidents. **

"That is not my best thing!" Helen huffed.

"**I don't like it. It isn't like back in New York. There, none of your friends drove, so it didn't matter so much. But here...well, everyone drives"**

"**Except for Suze" Dopey said. He seemed to feel it was his duty to rub in the fact that although I am sixteen, I don't have a licence yet. Or even, for that matter, a learner's permit. As if driving were the most important thing in the world. As if my times was not already fully occupied with school, my recent appointment as vice president of the Mission Academy's sophomore's class, and saving the lost souls of the undead. **

"With all that on her plate it's a miracle she actually got her licence when she did" Andy muttered.

"**What are you **_**really**_** going to do with the money?" my mother asked. **

**I shrugged. "We have to raise the money to replace that stature of our founding father, Junipero Serra, before the Archbishop's visit next month"**

"**Oh" my mother said. "Of course. The statue was vandalized"**

**Vandalized. Yeah right. That's what everyone was going around saying, of course. But that statue hadn't been vandalized. What had happened to it was, this ghost who was trying to kill me severed the statue's head and tried to use it as a bowling ball. **

"Have you noticed that not only does Suze exaggerate the truth but she refuses to use Heather's name?" David asked.

"Yeah, I noticed" Jake said grimily.

"She probably doesn't want to think Heather as a person after the way she had to get rid off her" Andy said.

**And I was supposed to be the pin. **

"**Quesadillas" Andy said, coming over to the table with a bunch of them on a tray. "Get 'em while they're hot"**

**What ensured was such chaos that I could only sit, Max's head was still on my lap, and watch in horror. **

Helen shuddered. "It was like a scene from some sort of horror movie!"

"We're not that bad!"

**When it was over, every single quesadilla was gone but my plate and my mom's plate were still empty. After a while, Andy noticed this, put his fork down, and said in an angry way, "Hey, guys! Did it ever occur to you to wait to take seconds until everyone at the table had had their first serving?"**

**Apparently, it had not. Sleepy, Dopey and Doc looked sheepishly down at their plates. **

The boys had similar sheepish looks on their face and David quickly offered a bag of cookies to Helen, who accepted it with a smile. "Thank you, David" she said sweetly.

"**I'm sorry" Doc said, holding his late, cheese and salsa dropping from it, towards my mother. "You can have some of mine"**

**My mother looked a little queasy. "No thank you, David" she said. "I'll just stick with salad I think"**

"**Suze" Andy said, putting his napkin on the table. "I'm gonna make you the cheesiest quesadilla you ever-"**

**I shoved Max's head out of the way and was up before Andy could get out of his seat. "You know what," I said. "Don't bother. I really think I'll just have some cereal if that's ok"**

**Andy looked hurt. "Suze" he said, "it's no trouble-"**

"**No really" I said. "I was gonna do my kick-boxing tape later anyway, and a lot of cheese'll just weigh me down"**

"**But" Andy said, "I'm making more anyway..."**

**He looked so pathetic, I had no choice but to say, "Well, I'll try one. But for right now, finish what's on your plate, and I'll just go and get some cereal" **

The boys snickered while Andy looked indignant. "I did not look pathetic; I was trying to guilt trip her into eating a proper homemade meal!"

"You looked like an adorable puppy who had just been kicked" Helen said soothingly only to cause her stepsons to laugh even more.

**As I was talking, I'd been backing out of the room. Once I was safely in the kitchen, Max at my heels - he was no dummy, he knew he wasn't getting a crumb out of those guys in there: I was Max's ticket to people food – I got out a box of cereal and a bowl, then opened the fridge to get some milk. That was when I heard a soft voice behind me whisper,**

"**Suze"**

"Another ghost? Jeeze how many does she know?"

**I whipped around. I didn't need to see Max slinking from the kitchen with his tail between his legs to know that I was in the presence of another member of that exclusive club known as the Undead. **

"It better not be another boyfriend. I can't have too many who I can't do bodily harm too" Jake muttered darkly.

"But Jake you can punch Jesse now..."

"But he won't unless he wants to be in my bad books, right Jake?" Helen said glaring at the blonde boy.

Jake swallowed hard. "Yes, Mom" he said meekly.

"Good boy, now it's your turn to read"


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's Note: sorry for such a long wait but I finally finished all coursework and will sit my exams next month. Chapter five is ready to upload, I just want ten reviews at least before I update...._

**I nearly jumped out of my skin. **

"**Jeez Dad!" I slammed the fridge door closed. "I told you not to do that."**

"Dad?"

Helen was horrified. "Peter?" she whispered. She knew he had become a ghost from Suze's first diary but to actually have him in her kitchen...to actually hear an interaction between him and her child....it was....it was too much.

**My father – or the ghost of my father, I should say – was leaning against the kitchen counter, his arms folded across his chest. He looked smug. He always looks smug when he manages to materialize behind my back and scare the living daylights out of me. **

"Git," Helen muttered. "Always liked to make people jump."

"**So," he said casually as if we were talking over lattes in a coffee shop. "How's it going kiddo?"**

**I glared at him. My dad looked exactly like he always had back when he used to make his surprise visits in Brooklyn. He was wearing the outfit he'd been in when he died, a pair of grey sweatpants and a blue shirt that had **_**Homeport, Fresh Seafood All Year**__**Round**_** written on it. **

"**Dad," I said. "Where have you been? And what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be haunting the new tenants back in our apartment in Brooklyn?"**

"What, no 'Hello Dad, how are you?' Talk about being a grateful daughter!" Brad said, mildly disgusted. He knew if it was him, and his mother visited from heaven or wherever ghosts come from, the first thing he would do would hug her.

"At least she says something instead of a mumbled word that could be anything," Andy gave Brad a warning glare.

"**They're boring," my dad said. "Coulpa yuppies. Goat cheese and cabernet sauvignon, that's all they ever talk about. Thought I'd see how you and your mom were getting on" he was peering out of the pass-through Andy had put in when he was trying to update the kitchen from the 1850s-style decor that had existed when he and my mom brought it. **

"I think he's checking out the competition Dad." Jake joked. Helen looked horrified again and Andy shivered.

"I thought I felt eyes on my back....just put it down to Suze… But now knowing it was a dead man...." Andy shivered again.

"**That him?" my dad wanted to know. "Guy with the – what is that anyway?"**

"**It's a quesadilla" I said. "And yeah, that's him." I grabbed my dad's arm, and dragged him to the centre island so he couldn't see them anymore. I had to talk in a whisper to make sure no one overheard me. "Is that why you're here? To spy on Mom and her new husband?"**

"Yes!" all three boys chorused.

"Oh God!" Helen said pulling at her hair. "What if he was watching our honeymoon?" the boys shuddered and Andy turned green.

"**No!" my dad said, looking indignant. "I've got a message for you. But I'll admit I did want to drop by and check out the lay of the land, make sure he's good enough for her. This Andy guy, I mean."**

"Oi! Dad's the best man for Mom; he can cook, do DIY and clean. What can you do? Die?"

"Brad, don't be disrespectful to the dead or I'll ground you for a whole year." Helen hissed. Brad was rather taken aback. Helen never issued a punishment if she could help it.

**I narrowed my eyes at him. "Dad, I thought we'd been through all this. You were supposed to move on, remember?"**

**He shook his head, trying for his sad puppy-dog face, thinking it would make me back down. "I tried, Suze." he said woefully. "I really did. But I can't."**

**I eyed him skeptically. Did I mention that in life, my dad had been a criminal lawyer like his mother? He was about as good an actor as Lassie. He could do sad puppy-dog like nobody's business. **

"Don't I know it..." Helen muttered darkly as she remembered all the things he had managed to get away with.

"**Why, Dad?" I asked pointedly. "What's holding you back? Mom's happy. I swear she is. It's enough to make you want to puke, she's so happy. And I'm doing fine, I really am. So what's keeping you here?"**

"Ah," Andy said softly, "I think that's the problem. She says she's fine but she's not happy."

"Even a goldfish could tell Suze wasn't happy here." Jake said rolling his eyes.

**He sighed sadly. "You **_**say**_** you're fine, Suze," he said. "But you aren't **_**happy.**_**"**

"**Oh, for Pete's sake. Not that again. You know what would make me happy, Dad? If you moved on. That's what would make me happy. You can't spend your afterlife following me around worrying about me." **

"**Why not?"**

"Because it's creepy having your father watch you snog someone?"

"**Because," I hissed, through gritted teeth. "You're going to drive me crazy!"**

**He blinked sadly. "You don't love me any more, is that it kiddo? All right, I can take a hint. Maybe I'll go haunt Grandma for a while. She's not as much fun because she can't see me, but maybe if I rattle a few doors-"**

"Oh not the guilt tripping! That man managed to get away with painting our room orange once because of that evil manipulative trick!"

"**Dad!" I glanced over my shoulder to make sure no one was listening. "Look. What's the message?"**

"**Message?" he blinked, and then went, "Oh, yeah. The message," suddenly he looked serious. "I understand you tried to contact a man today."**

**I narrowed my eyes at him suspiciously. "Red Beaumont." I said. "Yeah, I did. So?"**

"**This is not a guy you want to be messing around with Suzie." my dad said. **

"I don't like the sound of this" Andy said grimily.

"**Uh-huh. And why not?"**

"**I can't tell you why not." my dad said. "Just be careful."**

"Oh that was useful!"

**I stared at him. I mean, really. How annoying can you get?**

"I don't know, I keep asking that about Brad and he always surprises me-"

"Shuddup!"

"Oh really original Brad!"

"Jake, David stop picking on your brother."

"**Thanks for the enigmatic warning, Dad" I said. "That really helps."**

"**I'm sorry Suze." my dad said. "Really I am. But you know how this stuff works. I don't get the whole story, just...feelings. And my feeling on this Beaumont guy is that you should stay away. Far, far away."**

"**Well, I can't do that." I said. "Sorry."**

"**Suze," my dad said. "This isn't one you should take on alone."**

"**But I'm not alone, Dad," I said. "I've got-"**

**I hesitated. Jesse, I'd almost said. **

Helen perked up. "See! She's relying on him already! Suze is one of the most independent girls I have ever known, to have her rely on someone else is a big sign of trust which shall lead to-"

"Love." Jake finished. "Yes Mom, we know. Now can I continue reading this?"

Helen blushed lightly and nodded.

**You would think my dad already knew about him. I mean if he knew about Red Beaumont, why didn't he know about Jesse?**

**But apparently he didn't. Know about Jesse, I mean. Because if he had, you could bet I would have heard about it. I mean, come on, a guy who wouldn't get out of my bedroom? Dads hate that. **

"Yes, I think I'll be having some strong words about that with Jesse." Andy said calmly though his sons were not fooled at all. After all, their father was calm throughout his lecture to them about the party. Well almost, he did snap and yell for a bit.

**So I said, "Look, I've got Father Dominic." **

"**No." my dad said. "This one's not for him either."**

**I glared at him. "Hey!" I said. "How do**_** you**_** know about Father Dom? Dad, have you been spying on me?"**

"Why not? He's been spying on my new husband."

**My dad looked sheepish. "The word**_** spying**_** has such negative connotations" he said. "I was just checking up on you, is all. Can you blame a guy for wanting to check up on his little girl?" **

"Well no...."

"Andy, don't side with him!"

"No dad, do side with him! Jesse might do something to Suze in the bedroom!"

"Jake, I think you're taking the overprotective brother act a little too far, don't you?"

"Oh shut up David!"

"**Check up on me? Dad, how much checking up on me have you done?"**

"**Well," he said, "I'll tell you something. I'm not thrilled about this Jesse character."**

"See!"

"_**Dad!"**_

"**Well, Whaddaya want me to say?" my dad held out his arms in a so-sue-me gesture. "The guy's practically living with you. It's not right. I mean, you're a very young girl."**

"I agree."

Both Helen and David had given up on the others. Obviously they were too focused on protecting Suze's virtue.

"**He's deceased, Dad, remember? It's not like my virtue's in any danger here." **

"Exactly!" David cried out. Helen looked slightly disappointed but didn't say anything.

**Unfortunately. **

"You were saying?" Jake shot back. Helen brightened and would have probably said something if it wasn't for Jake's warning glare.

"**But how're you supposed to change clothes and stuff with a**_** boy**_** in the room?" my dad, as usual, had to cut to the chase. "I don't like it. And I'm gonna have a word with him. You, in the meantime, are gonna stay away from this Mr. Red. You got that?" **

**I shook my head. "Dad you don't understand. Jesse and I have it all worked out. I don't-"**

"**I mean it, Susannah."**

"Oh ouch, full name."

**When my dad called me Susannah, he meant business. **

**I rolled my eyes. "All right, Dad. But about Jesse. Please don't say anything to him. He's had it kind of tough, you know? I mean, he pretty much died before he ever really had a chance to live."**

"Protecting him already!" Helen had cheered up.

"**Hey," my dad said, giving me one of his big innocent smiles. "Have I ever let you down before, sweetheart?"**

"Yes."

**Yes, I wanted to say. Plenty of times. Where had he been for instance, last month when I'd been so nervous about moving to a new state, starting at a new school, living with a bunch of people I barely knew? Where had he been just last week when one of his cohorts had been trying to kill me? And where had he been Saturday night when I'd stumbled into all that poison oak?**

"Oh come off it! You can't expect him to be there with something stupid like poison oak!"

**But I didn't say what I wanted to. Instead, I said what I felt like I had to. This is what you do with family members. **

"Apart from Brad."

"Hey!"

"**No Dad," I said. "You never let me down."**

"Awww"

**He gave me a big hug, then disappeared as abruptly as he'd shown up. I was calmly pouring cereal into a bowl when my mom came into the kitchen and switched on the overheard light. **

"**Honey?" she said, looking concerned. "Are you all right?"**

"**Sure, Mom" I said. I shoveled some cereal – dry – into my mouth. "Why?"**

"Ah and lying starts again…"

"**I thought-" my mother was peering at me curiously. "Honey, I thought I heard you say, um. Well. I thought I heard you talking to- did you say the word, **_**dad**_**?"**

**I chewed. I was totally used to this kind of thing. "I said bad. The milk in the fridge. I think its gone bad"**

"You believed that?" all four male Ackermans looked skeptical.

"Oh shut up."

**My mother looked immensely relieved. The thing is, she's caught me talking to Dad more times than I can count. She probably thinks I'm a mental case. **

"I do not!"

"Mom you sent her to therapy, what was she supposed to think?"

"That I wanted to help her!"

**Back in New York she used to send me to her therapist, who told her I wasn't a mental case, just a teenager. Boy, did I pull one over on old Doc Mendelsohn, let me tell you. **

**But I had to feel sorry for my mom in a way. I mean, she's a nice lady and doesn't deserve to have a mediator for a daughter. I know I've always been a bit of a disappointment to her. **

"Oh Suzie...you're never a disappointment to me!"

**When I turned fourteen, she got me my own phone line, thinking so many boys would be calling me, her friends would never be able to get through. You can imagine how disappointed she was when nobody except my best friend, Gina ever called me on my private line, and then it was usually only to tell me about the dates, **_**she'd**_** been on. The boys in my old neighbourhood were never much interested in asking **_**me**_** out. **

"Who can blame them?"

"Bradley what have I told you?"

"Stop being insulting..." Brad mumbled.

"**Well," my mom said brightly. "If the milk's bad, I guess you have no choice but to try one of Andy's quesadillas."**

"**Great," I groaned. "Mom, you do understand that around here, it's swimsuit season all year round. We can't just pig out in the winter like we used to back home."**

"That's true... I should look into doing more healthy food." Andy said looking thoughtful.

"No!" Brad screamed, horrified at the thought of salad and no meat.

**My mom sighed sort of sadly. "Do you really hate it here that much, honey?"**

"Err...what?"

**I looked at her like she was the crazy one, for a change. "What do you mean? What makes you think I hate it here?"**

"**You. You just referred to Brooklyn as 'back home'." **

"Well give her a chance, she barely moved in!"

"**Well," I said embarrassed. "That doesn't mean I hate it here. It just isn't home yet."**

"**What do you need to make it feel that way?" my mom pushed some of my hair from my eyes. "What can I do to make this fee like home to you?"**

"Mom you're being a bit too pushy there."

"Well what was I supposed to do? Leave my child unhappy?"

"Yes."

"You do realise this was probably why Gina came over to stay?" David smirked.

"Actually Mom, keep interfering!"

"**God, Mom," I said ducking out from beneath her fingers. "Nothing, okay. I'll get used to it. Just give me a chance."**

**My mom wasn't buying it though. "You miss Gina, don't you? You haven't made any really close friends here, I've noticed. Not like Gina. Would you like it if she came for a visit?"**

**I couldn't imagine Gina, with her leather pants, pierced tongue and extension braids, in Carmel, California, where wearing khakis and a sweater set is practically enforced by law.**

Jake and Brad were imaging Gina and looked rather dazed. "Jake!" Andy barked causing his eldest son to jump. "Keep reading, please" he added in a pleasant calm voice causing Jake to glare at him.

**I said, "I guess that would be nice."**

**It didn't seem very likely though. Gina's parents don't have very much money so it wasn't as if they could just send her off to California like it was nothing. I would have liked to see Gina taking on Kelly Prescott though. Hair extensions I was quite certain were going to fly. **

"Definitely Kelly's!"

**Later, after dinner, kick-boxing and homework, a quesadilla congealing in my stomach, I decided, despite my dad's warning, to tackle the Red problem one last time before bed. I had gotten Tad Beaumont's home phone number – which was unlisted, of course – in the most devious way possible: from Kelly Prescott's cell phone, which I had borrowed during our student council meeting on the pretence of calling for an update on the repairs of Father Serra's statue. Kelly's cell phone, I noticed at the time had an address book function, and I'd snagged Tad's phone number from it before handing it back to her. **

"Sheer genius..."

**Hey, it's a dirty job, but somebody's got to do it. **

"You know, I think she would make quite a good private detective."

"She would Dave, but don't tell her that or she'll start digging up dirt on all of us…"

**I had forgotten to take into account, of course, the fact that Tad, and not his father, might be the one to pick up the phone. Which he did after the second ring. **

"**Hello?" he said. **

**I recognized his voice instantly. It was the same soft voice that had stroked my cheek at the pool party. **

"Urgh!"

**Ok, I'll admit it. I panicked. I did what any red-blooded American girl would do under similar circumstances. **

"Squeal?"

**I hung up. **

"Coward!" Brad coughed.

**Of course, I didn't realize he had caller ID. So when the phone rang a few seconds later I assumed it was Cee Cee who'd promised to call with the answers to our Geometry homework – I'd fallen a little behind, what with all the mediating I'd been doing...boot that that was the excuse I'd given Cee Cee of course – and so I picked up. **

"**Hello?" the same soft voice said into my ear. "Did you just call me?"**

**I said a bunch of swear words real fast in my head. Aloud, I only said, "Uh. Maybe. By mistake though. Sorry."**

"**Wait," I don't know how he'd known I'd been about to hang up. "You sound familiar. Do I know you? My name is Tad. Tad Beaumont."**

"**Nope" I said. "Doesn't ring a bell. Gotta go, sorry."**

"What. An. Idiot."

"You could talk, Brad."

**I hung up and said a bunch more swear words, this time out loud. Why, when I'd had him on the phone, hadn't I asked to speak to his father? Why was I such a loser?**

"Well-"

"Shut up Brad."

**Father Dom was right. I was a failure as a mediator. A big-time failure. I could exorcize evil spirits, no problem. But when it came to dealing with the living, I was the world's biggest flop. **

"She really needs an ego boost." David suggested.

**This fact was drilled into my head even harder when, about four hours later, I was wakened once again by a blood curdling shriek. **

"Argh not again! The evil demon of disturbing sleep is back!" Jake yelled throwing the book at Brad who had only managed to catch it in time.

"Jake, be nice!" Andy said, "And don't throw books."


	5. Chapter 5

**I sat up, fully awake at once. **

**She was back. **

"Who was back?" Brad asked staring at the book dumbfounded.

Jake rolled his eyes. "Well if you were listening before and reading now you'd know it's the evil demon. You know the one that likes to disturb your sleep?"

"Being a little melodramatic there, aren't you?" David said coldly.

"Hey, the Drama Queen of this family is Suze, not me." Jake scowled.

**She was even more upset than she'd been the night before. I had to wait a real long time before she calmed down enough to talk to me. **

"_**Why**_**?" she asked, when she'd stopped screaming. "Why didn't you **_**tell**_** him?" **

"Because she has no idea who _he_ is? You know, women are very irrational."

"Keep going Bradley and I'll ask you father to not give you any pocket money." Helen glared.

"**Look," I said, trying to use a soothing voice, the way Father Dom would have wanted me to. "I tried, okay? The guy's not the easiest person to get hold of. I'll get him tomorrow, I promise."**

**She had kind of slumped down on to her knees. "He blames himself," she said. "He blames himself for my death. But it wasn't his fault. You've got to tell him. **_**Please!**_**"**

David wrapped his arms round himself subconsciously. He felt a raging storm of emotions welling up inside him. Hatred for what he was putting his mother through, sadness that she was unhappy, irritation that Suze wasn't really helping, grief that no matter what his mother was dead, and love. A strong overwhelming love for a mother that he would never see again. Now he was feeling guilty because Helen was a wonderful mother and he shouldn't be wishing for his own when he had her.

"You alright, Dave?" Jake asked. "You look a little pale."

"I'm fine." David mumbled.

**Her voice cracked horribly on the word **_**please**_**. She was in a wreck. I mean, I've seen some messed up ghosts in my time, but this one took the cake, let me tell you. I swear, it was like having Meryl Steep put on that big crying scene from **_**Sophie's Choice**_** live on your bedroom carpet. **

"**Look, lady," I said. Soothing, I reminded myself. Soothing. **

"I wonder if it hurt her trying to be soothing…" Brad snickered.

**There isn't anything real soothing about calling somebody **_**lady**_** though. So, remembering how Jesse had been kind of mad at me before for not getting her name, I went, "Hey. What's your name anyway?"**

"Yeah, what is her name?"

"Just read it Brad and we might find out!"

**Sniffling, she just went, "Please. You've got to tell him."**

"**I said I'd do it." Jeez, what'd she think I was running here? Some kind of amateur operation? "Give me a chance, will you? These things are kind of delicate, you know. I can't just go blurting it out. Do you want that?"**

"Yeah, I don't see that going down well," Andy said. "She might end up arrested for harassing a well known businessman."

"**Oh, God, no," she said lifting a knuckle to her mouth and chewing on it. "No, please."**

"**Ok, then. Chill out a little. Now tell me-"**

**But she was already gone. **

"Damnit! Why do ghosts keeping doing that? We're never gonna learn anything!" Everyone stared at Brad horrified; he looked up at them confused. "What?" he asked.

"I don't believe it..." David whispered. "You actually want to learn something."

"Oh for fuck's sake, I am not that bad!"

"Brad, language and yes you are."

"Thank you so much for having so much faith in me." Brad spat.

**A split second later, though, Jesse showed up, he was applauding softly as if he were at the theatre. **

"**Now that," he said, putting his hands down, "Was your finest performance yet. You seemed caring yet disgusted."**

"Doesn't this guy have something better to do?" Jake grumbled.

**I glared at him. "Don't you," I asked grumpily, "Have some chains you're supposed to be rattling somewhere?"**

Everyone snickered.

**He sauntered over to my bed and sat down on it. I had to jerk my feet over to keep him from squashing them. **

"**Don't you," he countered, "Have something you want to tell me?"**

**I shook my head. "No. It's two o'clock in the morning, Jesse. The only thing I've got on my mind right now is sleep. You remember sleep, right?"**

**Jesse ignored me. He does that, a lot. "I had a visitor of my own not too long ago. I believe you know him. A Mr. Peter Simon."**

"Oh dear..."

"**Oh." I said.**

**And then – I don't know why – I flopped back down and pulled a pillow over my head. **

"**I don't want to hear about it," I said, my voice muffled beneath the pillow. **

**The next thing I knew, the pillow had flown out of my hands – even though I'd been clenching it pretty tightly – and slammed down to the floor. As hard as a pillow can slam, anyway, which isn't very hard. **

**I lay where I was, blinking in the darkness. Jesse hadn't moved an inch. That's the thing about ghosts, see, they can move stuff – pretty much anything they want – without lifting a finger. They do it with their minds. It's pretty creepy. **

"I think it's kinda cool!"

"I don't. Remember what Heather did?"

Everyone shuddered. "Don't remind me." Helen said rubbing her arms.

"_**What?"**_** I demanded, my voice squeakier than ever. **

"**I want to know why you told your father that there's a man living in your bedroom."**

"Eh?"

"But she didn't..."

**Jesse looked mad. For a ghost, he's actually pretty even tempered, so when he gets mad, it's really obvious. For one thing, things around him start shaking. For another, the scar in his right eyebrow turns white. **

"Oh she knows all of his tells already!" Helen half-squealed.

**Things weren't shaking right then, but the scar was practically glowing in the dark. **

"**Uh" I said. "Actually, Jesse, there **_**is**_** a guy living in my bedroom, remember?"**

"**Yes but-" Jesse got up off the bed and started pacing around. "But I'm not really **_**living**_** here."**

"**Well," I said. "Only because technically, Jesse, you're dead."**

Everyone winced.

"Ooh..."

"Ye-ouch...doesn't have much tact does she?"

"**I **_**know**_** that," Jesse ran a hand through his hair in frustrated sort of way. Have I mentioned that Jesse has really nice hair? It's black and short and looks sort of crisp, if you know what I mean. **

"Yes." Helen said.

"No." all the male ones chorused.

"**What I don't understand is why you told him about me. I didn't know it bothered you that much, my being here."**

"How sweet!" Helen cooed. "He's upset that she's unhappy with him!"

**The truth is it doesn't. Bother me, I mean. It used to, but that was before Jesse had saved my life a couple of times. After that, I sort of got over it. **

"Fallen in love with him," Helen translated.

"Gotten used to him would probably be the right words…"

**Except it does bother me when he borrows my CDs and doesn't put them back in the right order when he's done with them. **

"Urgh, that is annoying."

"**It doesn't," I said. **

"**It doesn't what?"**

"**It doesn't bother me that you live here" I winced. Poor choice of words. "Well, not that you **_**live**_** here, since...I mean, it doesn't bother me that you **_**stay **_**here. It's just that-"**

"**It's just that what?"**

**I said, all in a rush before I could chicken out. "It's just that I can't help wondering **_**why.**_**"**

"Ah, the attempt to find out more about him!"

"**Why what?"**

"**Why you've stayed here so long."**

**He just looked at me. Jesse had never told me anything about his death. He's never told me anything, really, about his life before his death either. Jesse isn't what you'd call real communicative, even for a guy. **

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"

**I mean, if you take into consideration that he was born a hundred and fifty years before **_**Oprah**_**, and doesn't know squat about the advantages of sharing his feelings, how not keeping things bottled up inside is actually good for you, this sort of makes sense. **

**On the other hand, I couldn't help suspecting that Jesse was perfectly in touch with his emotions, and that he just didn't feel like letting me in on them.**

"Most likely."

**What little I had found out about him – like his full name, for instance – had been from an old book Doc had scrounged up on the history of northern California. I had never really had the guts to ask Jesse about it. You know about how he was supposed to marry his cousin, who it turned out loved someone else, and how Jesse had mysteriously disappeared on the way to the wedding ceremony...**

**It's just not the kind of thing you can really bring up. **

"No...Not really..."

"**Of course," I said, after a short silence, during which it became clear that Jesse wasn't going to tell me jack, "If you don't want to discuss it, that's okay. I would have hoped that we could have, you know, an open and honest relationship but if that's too much to ask-"**

"She can talk!"

"**What about you, Susannah?" he fired back at me. "Have you been open and honest with me? I don't think so. Otherwise, why would your father come after me like he did?"**

**Shocked, I sat up a little straighter. "My dad came **_**after**_** you?"**

"He was doing his fatherly duty in protecting you. Of course he would come after guys who he deems as a threat!"

"Andy!"

"Ever get the feeling Dad wanted a girl?" Brad whispered to Jake.

"No, just think he's gotten into the role of being Suze's father."

**Jesse said, sounding irritated. "**_**Nom de Dios**_**, Susannah, what did you expect him to do? What kind of father would he be if he didn't try to get rid of me?"**

"See!"

"Yes dear," Helen sighed.

"**Oh, my God," I said, completely mortified. "Jesse, I never said a word to him about you. I swear. He's the one who brought you up. I guess he's been spying on me, or something…" this was humiliating thing to admit. "So... What'd you do? When he came after you?"**

**Jesse shrugged. "What could I do? I tried to explain myself as best I could. After all, it's not as if my intentions are dishonourable."**

"He has intentions?"

_**Damn!**_** Wait a minute though – "You have **_**intentions?"**_

**I know it's pathetic, but at this point in my life, even hearing that a **_**ghost**_** of a guy might have intentions – even of the not dishonourable sort – was kind of cool. Well, what do you expect? I'm sixteen and no one's ever asked me out. Give me a break, okay? **

"That's not true, Bryce asked you out on a date."

**Besides, Jesse was way hot, for a dead guy. **

"Urgh, I so don't need to know this!"

**But unfortunately, his intentions towards me appeared to be nothing but platonic, if the fact that he picked up the pillow that he'd slammed on to the floor – with his hands this time – and smashed it in my face was any indication. **

The boys snorted and Helen was disappointed.

**This did not seem like the kind of thing a guy who was madly in love with me would do. **

"No it doesn't," Helen sighed.

"**So what did my dad say?" I asked him when I pushed the pillow away. "I mean, after you reassured him that your intentions weren't dishonourable?"**

"**Oh," Jesse said, sitting back down on the bed. "After a while he calmed down. I like him, Susannah."**

"Everybody did, I'm sure if you met him you'd like him."

"I don't know darling, I think I would be jealous that he has you and I don't…"

"Oh, Andy!" Helen murmured leaning in for a kiss.

"Oh, yuck." Brad grumbled.

**I snorted. "Everybody does. Or did, back when he was alive."**

"**He worries about you, you know." Jesse said. **

"**He's got way bigger things to worry about." I muttered, "Than me."**

"Every parent's main worry is their child. There is no bigger worry than that." Andy scolded.

**Jesse blinked at me curiously. "Like what?"**

"**Gee, I don't know. How about why he's still here instead of wherever it is people are supposed to go after they die? That might be one suggestion, don't you think?"**

"She's a little too fixated on that, isn't she?"

**Jesse said quietly, "How are you so sure this isn't where he's supposed to be, Susannah? Or me, for that matter?"**

"Interesting theory...I think I need to discuss this with Jesse in more detail."

Brad and Jake groaned. "Don't bug the guy with your scientific ideas, Dave," Jake pleaded.

"I have you know that Jesse respects my ideas and in fact enjoys talking to me about science in general," David huffed. "Carry on reading."

**I glared at him. "Because it doesn't work that way, Jesse. I may not know much about this mediation thing, but I do know that. This is the land of the living. You and my dad and that lady who was here a minute a go - you don't belong here. The reason you're stuck here is because something is wrong."**

"**Ah." he said. "I see."**

**But he didn't see. I knew he didn't see. **

"**You can't tell me you're happy here," I said. "You can't tell me that you've **_**liked**_** being trapped in this room for a hundred and fifty years."**

"**It hasn't been all bad," he said, with a smile. "Things have picked up recently."**

"Ooh, how sweet!"

**I wasn't sure what he meant by that. And since I was afraid my voice might get all squeaky again if I asked. I settled for saying, "Well, I'm sorry about my dad coming after you. I swear I didn't tell him to." **

**Jesse said softly, "It's all right, Susannah. I like your father. And he only does it because he cares about you."**

"**You think so?" I picked at the bedspread. "I wonder. I think he does it because he knows it annoys me…"**

"Well that too, a parent's greatest pleasure is to annoy their child!"

"I knew it! I knew you were doing it on purpose!"

"Sorry Brad," Andy said, lips twitching. "But you're so easy to wind up."

Brad spluttered and Jake chuckled. "He's got a point."

"Oh shuddup!"

**Jesse, who'd been watching me pull on the chenille balls suddenly reached out and seized my fingers. **

Helen leaned forwards in interest while the others merely rolled their eyes.

**He's not supposed to do that. Well, at least I'd been meaning to tell him he's not supposed to do that. Maybe it had slipped my mind. But anyway, he's not supposed to do that. Touch me, I mean. **

"Oh for Pete's sake just stop pretending and admit you like the guy!"

Everyone stared at Jake in shock. "I don't believe it..." David said pushing his glasses back up.

"The denial thing is annoying. The sooner she admits it the sooner I can be disapproving and kicking Jesse's ass." Jake muttered, flushing a bright pink.

"Riiiiiiiight."

**See, even though Jesse's a ghost, and can walk through walls and disappear and reappear at will, he's still...well **_**there**_**. To me anyway. That's what makes me – and Father Dom – different from everybody else. We not only can see and talk to ghosts, but we can feel them too – just as if they were anybody else. Anybody alive, I mean. Because to me and Father Dom, ghosts **_**are**_** just like anyone else, with blood and guts and sweat and bad breath and whatever. The only real difference is that they kind of have this glow around them, an aura, I think it's called. **

**Oh, and did I mention that a lot of them have superhuman strength? I usually forget to mention that. That's how come, in my line of work, I frequently get the you-know-what knocked out of me. That's also how come it kind of freaks me out when one of them – like Jesse was doing just then – touches me, even in a non-aggressive way. **

**And I mean, seriously, just because, to me, ghosts are as real as say, Tad Beaumont, that doesn't mean I want to go around slow dancing with them or anything. **

**Well, okay, in Jesse's case, I would except how weird would that be to slow dance with a ghost? Come on. Nobody but me'd ever be able to see him. I'd be like, "Oh let me introduce you to my boyfriend," and there wouldn't be anybody there. How embarrassing. Everyone would think I was making him up like that lady on that movie I saw once on the Lifetime channel who made up an extra kid. **

"But we all think Suze's crazy anyway."

"Brad!"

"Well she is!"

**Besides, I'm pretty sure Jesse doesn't like me that way. You know, the slow dancing way. **

"Oh I'm sure he does," David snickered.

**Which he unfortunately proved by flipping my hands over and holding then up to the moonlight. **

"**What's wrong with your fingers?" he wanted to know. **

"Being all concerned and caring!"

"Yeah but all friends and family are like that"

"Brad, think about it, he's being all concerned and caring in the middle of the night in the moonlight. How romantic is that?"

"Whoa...that's one way to score…"

"Huh?"

"I'm gonna kill Jesse if he's touched Suze!"

**I looked at them. The rash was worse than ever. In the moonlight I looked deformed, like I had monster hands. **

"Cool!"

"Idiot."

"Hey!"

"David, don't insult your brother."

"**Poison oak," I said bitterly. "You're lucky you're dead and can't get it. It bites. Nobody warned me about it, you know. About the poison oak, I mean. Palm trees, sure, everybody said there'd be palm trees, but-"**

"Well when you're trying to get someone to move here you don't go into the dangers of living here."

"**You should try putting a poultice of gum flower leaves on them," he interrupted. **

"Eh?"

"**Oh, okay," I said, managing not to sound too sarcastic. **

**He frowned at me. "Little yellow flowers." he said. "They grow wild. They have healing properties in them, you know. There are some growing on that hill behind the house."**

"Isn't that where Brad fell into some poison oak about a month after he moved here?"

"Wasn't one of his finest moments," Andy grinned as Brad's neck flushed a deep red.

"**Oh," I said. "You mean that hill where all the poison oak is?"**

"**They say gunpowder works too."**

"**Oh" I said. "You know, Jesse, you might be surprised to learn that medicine has advanced beyond flower poultices and gunpowder in the past century and a half."**

"**Fine," he said dropping my hands. "It was only a suggestion."**

"**Well," I said. "Thanks. But I'll put my faith in hydrocortisone." **

**He looked at me for a little while. I guess he was probably thinking what a freak I am. **_**I **_**was thinking how weird it was, the fact that this guy had held my scaly, poison-oaky hands. Nobody else would touch them, not even my mother. But Jesse hadn't minded. **

"A sign of true love," Helen said dreamily.

"Mom, he's dead. It's not like he can catch it."

**Then again, it wasn't as if he could catch it from me. **

"See!"

"**Susannah," he said finally. **

"**What?"**

"**Go carefully," he said, "With this woman. The woman who was here."**

"God," Helen moaned. "I don't like the sound of this at all."

**I shrugged. "Okay."**

"**I mean it," Jesse said. "She isn't – she isn't who you think she is."**

"**I know who she is." I said. **

**He looked surprised. So surprised it was kind of insulting actually. "You **_**know**_**? She **_**told**_** you?"**

"He knows and hasn't told her?" Brad cried out. "What a jerk!"

"**Well not exactly," I said. "But you don't have to worry. I've got things under control."**

"**No," he said. He got up off the bed. "You don't Susannah. You should be careful. You should listen to your father this time."**

Helen groaned loudly. "Really, really don't like this."

"**Oh, okay," I said, very sarcastically. "Thanks. Do you think maybe you could be creepier about it? Like could you drool blood or something too?"**

"Susannah!"

**I guess maybe I'd been a little **_**too**_** sarcastic, though, because instead of replying he just disappeared. **

**Ghosts. They just can't take a joke. **

"Nah, she's just got a shitty sense of humour," Brad said passing the book to David.

"Brad, what have I told you about your language?"

"That it's very unique?"

"Nice try," Andy smiled slightly.

David was stunned. "You know what unique means?"


	6. Chapter 6

"**You want me to **_**what**_**?"**

"To recognise my genius and to give me the respect I deserve," Brad said seriously.

"Brad, you're an idiot." Jake yawned. "Now shut up and let Dave read."

"**Just drop me off," I said. "On your way to work. It's not out of your way."**

**Sleepy eyed me as if I'd suggested he eat glass or something. "I don't know" he said slowly as he stood in the doorway, the keys to the Rambler in his hand. "How are you going to get home?"**

"**A friend is coming to pick me up," I said brightly. **

**A total lie, **

"I knew it!" Jake hissed under his breath.

**Of course. I had no way of getting home. But I figured at a pinch, I could always call Adam. He'd just gotten his license as well as a new VW bug. He was so hot to drive, he'd have picked me up from Albuquerque if I'd called him from there. I didn't think he'd mind too much if I called him from Thaddeus Beaumont's mansion on Seventeen Mile Drive. **

"Only because he thinks it'll get him laid," Brad scoffed.

"Brad!" Helen said scandalised.

"What? I'm only saying the truth."

**Sleepy still looked uncertain. "I don't know..." he said slowly. **

**I could tell he thought I was headed for a gang meeting or something. Sleepy has never seemed all that thrilled about me, especially after our parents' wedding when he caught me smoking outside the reception hall. Which is so totally unfair since I've never touched a cigarette since. **

"I just don't like smokers and gangsters and at the time I thought she was both" Jack said in defence of the looks he was receiving from his parents. "Besides I was very busy with work and school work as well."

**But I guess the fact that he'd recently been forced to rescue me in the middle of the night when this ghost made a building collapse on me didn't exactly help form any warm bond of trust between us. Especially since I couldn't tell him the ghost part. I think he believes I'm just the type of girl buildings fall on top of all the time. **

"She did seem very accident prone...now I'm scared to find out who's being trying to kill her all the time," Helen said shuddering at the thought.

**No wonder he doesn't want me in his car. **

"**Come on" I said, opening up my camel-coloured calf length coat. "How much trouble could I get up to in this outfit?"**

**Sleepy looked me over. **

"Jake, I knew you were a pervert. And our little sister of all things!" Brad said in mock horror.

"Don't be disgusting Brad," Jake looked mildly ill.

"You know technically Jake wouldn't have been doing anything wrong. Suze is not biologically related to any of us and therefore eligible for dating." David said.

Everyone looked horrified.

"Just...keep reading David," Andy managed to say.

**Even he had to admit I was the epitome of innocence, **

Brad snorted.

**In my white cable-knit sweater, red plaid skirt and penny loafers. I had even put on this gold cross necklace I had been awarded as a prize for winning this essay contest on the War of 1812 in Mr. Walden's class. **

"Swot," Brad muttered.

**I figured this was the kind of outfit an old guy like Mr Beaumont would appreciate: you know the sassy schoolgirl thing. **

"She's encouraging pedos?" Brad yelped.

"I'll need to have a talk about what's appropriate in flirting," Helen muttered. "No baby girl of mine should be trying for a man old enough to be her father."

"Err...Mom; you do know that Jesse is-"

"Keep reading David!"

"**Besides," I said. "It's for school."**

"**All right," Sleepy said at last, looking like he really wished he were someplace else. "Get in the car."**

**I hightailed it out to the Rambler before he had a chance to change his mind. **

"And let me tell you, she runs fast. Very fast."

**Sleepy got in a minute later, looking drowsy, as usual. His job, for a pizza stint, seemed awfully demanding. Either that or he just put in a lot of extra shifts. You would think by now he'd saved enough for that Camaro. I mentioned that as we pulled out of the driveway. **

"**Yeah" Sleepy said. "But I want to really cherry her out, you know? Alpine stereo, Bose speakers. The works."**

"So cool," Brad said as both David and Andy nodded.

"Boys and their toys…" Helen muttered to herself.

**I have this thing about boys who refer to their cars as 'she' but I didn't figure it would pay to alienate my ride. Instead I said, "Wow. Neat."**

"Why would she have a thing about cars being female?" Brad asked confused.

"Because it's almost like objectifying women. You're making females look like an object for your use only. Suze is a feminist. She's against that." David explained as he pushed his glasses back up his nose.

**We live in the hills of Carmel, overlooking the valley and the bay. It's a beautiful place, but since it was dark out all I could see where the insides of the houses we were driving by. People in California have these really big windows to let in all the sun, and at night-time when their lights are on you can see practically everything they're doing just like in Brooklyn, where nobody ever pulled down their blinds. It's kind of homey, actually. **

"Actually I'm starting to find that disturbing." Helen said, "This is allowing people to see me do things in the privacy of my home. What if I was doing yoga and was in a suggestive position or arguing with your father. It would just air out all of my secrets to the neighbours!"

"Like they'd care…"

"**What class is this for anyway?" Sleepy asked, making me jump. He so rarely spoke, especially when he was doing something he liked, like eating or driving, that I had sort of forgotten he was there. **

"**What do you mean?" I asked. **

"**This paper you're doing." he took his eyes off the road a second and locked at me. "You did say this was for school didn't you?"**

"**Oh," I said. "Sure. Uh-huh. It's, um, a story I'm doing on the school paper. My friend Cee Cee, she's the editor. She assigned it to me."**

"I still can't believe she lied about the paper. I honestly thought she was branching out!" Helen moaned.

"You bought that?" David said looking at Jake with skepticism. "You didn't notice that none of her so called articles appeared in the newspaper?"

"I don't read the school paper. I sleep in my free time." Jake shrugged.

**Oh my God, I am such a liar. And I can't leave at just one lie either. Oh, no, I have to pile it on. I am sick, I tell you. Sick. **

"At least she admits it!" Brad said cheerfully, earning a few glares from his parents.

"**Cee Cee," Sleepy said. "That's that albino chick you hang out with at lunch, right?"**

**Cee Cee would have had an embolism if she'd heard anyone refer to her as a chick, but since, technically, the rest of his sentence was correct, I said, "Uh-huh."**

**Sleepy grunted and didn't say anything else for a while. We drove in silence, the big houses with their light-filled windows flashing by. Seventeen Mile Drive is this stretch of highway that's supposed to be like the most beautiful road in the world or something. The famous Pebble Beach Golf course is on Seventeen Mile Drive, along with about five other golf courses and a bunch of scenic points, like the Lone Cypress, which is some kind of tree growing out of a boulder and Seal Rock, on which there are, you guessed it right, a lot of seals. **

**Seventeen Mile Drive is also where you can check out the colliding currents of what they call the Restless Sea, the ocean along this part of the coast being too filled with riptides and undertows for anyone to swim in. It's all giant crashing waves and tiny stretches of sand between great big boulders on which seagulls are always dropping mussels and stuff, hoping to split the shells open. Sometimes surfers get spilt open there, too, if they're stupid enough to think they can ride the waves. **

"So Brad and Jake then?" David said innocently.

"You better have not," Andy said sternly as he gave his eldest sons the evil eye.

"Dad, I'm not stupid. I'm careful when I surf, just like you taught me. It's Brad you should worry about."

"Hey!"

**And if you want, you can buy a really big mansion on a cliff overlooking all this natural beauty, for a mere, oh, zillion dollars or so. **

**Which was apparently what Thaddeus 'Red' Beaumont had done. He had snatched up one of those mansions, a really, really big one, I saw, when Sleepy finally pulled up in front of it. Such a big one, in fact, that is had a little guard's house by the enormous spiky gate in front of its long, long driveway, with a guard in it watching TV. **

**Sleepy looking at the gate, went "Are you sure this is the place?"**

**I swallowed. I knew from what Cee Cee had said that Mr. Beaumont was rich. But I hadn't thought he was **_**this**_** rich. **

**And just think, his kid had asked me to slow dance!**

"She's going to turn out to be a gold digger."

"Brad!"

"**Um," I said. "Maybe I should just see if he's home before you take off?"**

**Sleepy said. "Yeah, I guess"**

**I got out of the car and went up to the little guard's house. I don't mind telling you, I felt like a tool. I had been trying all day to get through to Mr. Beaumont, only to be told me was in a meeting, or on another line. For some reason, I'd imagined a personal touch might work. I don't know what I'd been thinking, but I believe it had involved ringing the doorbell and the looking winsomely up into his face when he came to the door. **

**That, I could see now, wasn't going to happen. **

"**Um excuse me," I said into the little microphone at the guard's house. Bulletproof glass, I noticed. Either Tad's dad had some people who didn't like him, or he was just a little paranoid. **

"Probably both."

**The guard looked u from his TV. He checked me out. I saw him check me out. I had to keep my coat open so he'd be sure to see my plain skirt and loafer. Then he looked past at the Rambler. This was no good. I did not want to be judged by my stepbrother and his crappy car. **

"Hey!" Jake shouted, offended. His brothers snickered at him.

**I tapped on the glass again to direct the guard's attention back to me. **

"**Hello," I said into the microphone. "My name is Susannah Simon, and I'm a sophomore at the Mission Academy. I'm doing a story for our school paper on the ten most influential people in Carmel, and I was hoping to be able to interview Mr. Beaumont, but unfortunately he hadn't returned any of my calls, and the story is due tomorrow, so I was wondering if he might be him and if he'd see me."**

**The guard looked at me with a stunned expression on his face. **

"Probably didn't expect a teenager to be so professional." Andy said, rather proud, "She is a polite girl when she wants to be, isn't she?"

"Yes she is!" Helen said happily.

"Oh brother…" Brad grumbled rolling his eyes.

"**I'm a friend," I said, "Of Tad. Tad Beaumont, Mr. Beaumont's son? He knows me, so if you want him, you know, to check me out on the security cameras or whatever I'm sure he could, you know, ID me. If my ID needs verifying, I mean."**

**The guard continued to stare at me. You would think a guy as rich as Mr. Beaumont could afford smarter guards. **

"**But if this is a bad time," I said, starting to back away. "I guess I could come back."**

**Then the guard did an extraordinary thing. He leaned forwards, pressed a button, and said into the speaker, "Honey, you talk faster than anyone I ever heard in my life. Would you care to repeat all that? Slowly, this time?"**

Everyone burst out laughing at that.

"Oh that's just priceless." Brad said wiping a stray tear of laughter.

**So I said my little speech again, more slowly this time, while behind me, Sleepy sat at the wheel with the motor running. I could hear the radio blaring inside the car, and Sleepy singing along. He must have thought that his car was soundproof with the windows rolled up. **

**Boy was he ever wrong. **

Everyone snorted and Jake looked determinedly at the book.

**After I was done giving my speech the second time, the guard, with a kind smile on his face, said, "Hold on, miss," and got on this white phone, and started saying a bunch of stuff into it that I couldn't hear. I stood there wishing I'd worn tights instead if pantyhose since my legs were freezing in the cold wind that was coming in off the ocean, and wondering how I could ever have possibly thought this was a good idea. **

Helen tutted. "I told her to wrap up warmly in the evenings."

**Then the microphone crackled. **

"**Ok, miss" the guard said. "Mr. Beaumont'll see you."**

**And then, to my astonishment, the big spiky gates began to ease open. **

"**Oh," I said. "Oh my God! Thank you! Thanks-"**

**Then I realized the guard couldn't hear me since I wasn't talking into the microphone. So I ran back to the car and tore open the door. **

**Sleepy, in the middle of a pretty involved air guitar session, broke off and looked embarrassed. **

Everyone laughed again. "Can we continue reading?" Jake said loudly, beginning to feel annoyed.

"**So?" he said. **

"**So" I said back to him, slamming the passenger door behind me. "We're in. Just drop me off at the house, will you?"**

"**Sure thing, Cinderella"**

"Cinderella?" Brad asked. "Your car gonna turn into a pumpkin then?"

"Oh shut up Brad,"

**It took like five minutes to get down that driveway. I am not even kidding. It was **_**that **_**long. On either side of it were these big trees that formed some sort of an alley. A tree alley. It was kind of cool. I figured in the daytime it was probably really beautiful. Was there anything Tad Beaumont didn't have? Looks, money, a beautiful place to live...**

**All he needed was cute little old me. **

"More like several restraining orders,"

**Sleepy pulled the car to a stop in front of this paved entranceway, which was flanked on either side by these enormous palm trees, kind of like the Polynesian Hotel at Disney World. In fact, the whole place has kind of a Disney feel to it. You know, really big, and kind of modern and fake. There were all these lights on, and at the end of all the paved stones I could see this giant glass door with somebody hovering behind it. **

**I turned to Sleepy and said, "Ok, I'm good. Thanks for the ride."**

**Sleepy looked out at all the lights and palm trees and stuff. "You sure you got a way home?"**

"Aw, you're being such a good older brother" Helen cooed giving Jake a hug.

"Mom, gerroff!" Jake groaned struggling to get away as Brad snickered at him.

"**I'm sure," I said. **

"**Okay." as I got out of the car, I heard him mutter, "Never delivered a pie **_**here**_** before."**

**I hurried up the paved walkway, conscious, as Sleepy drove away, that I could hear the ocean somewhere, though in the darkness beyond the house I couldn't see it. When I got to the door, it swung open before I could look for a bell, and a Japanese man in black trousers and a white housecoat-looking thing bowed to me and said, "This way, miss"**

**I had never been in a house where a servant answered the door before – let alone been called miss – so I didn't know how to act. I followed him into this huge room where the walls were made out of actual rocks from which actual water was dripping in these little rivulets, which I guess were supposed to be waterfalls. **

"**May I take your coat?" the Japanese man said, and so I shrugged out of it, though I kept my bag from which my writing tablet was peeking out. I wanted to look the part, you know. **

"She would actually make a good undercover agent." David said admiringly.

"God I hope not!" Helen exclaimed, "I don't want my baby in any more harm than she is now!"

**Then the Japanese man bowed to me again and said. "This way, miss."**

**He led me towards a set of sliding glass doors, which opened out on to a long, open-air courtyard in which there was a huge pool lit up turquoise in the dark. Steam rose from its surface. I guess it was heated. There was a fountain in the middle of it and a rock formation from which water gushed and all around it were plants and trees and hibiscus bushes. A very nice place I thought, for me to hang out in after school in my Calvin Klein one-piece and my sarong. **

Jake and Brad snorted at their stepsister's vanity.

**Then we were inside again in surprisingly ordinary-looking hallway. It was at this point that my guide bowed to me for the third time and said, "Wait here, please" then disappeared through one of three doors off the corridor. **

**So I did as he said, though I couldn't help wondering what time it was. I don't wear a watch since every one I ever owned has ended up getting smashed by some evil spirit. But I hadn't planned on spending more than a few minutes of my time with this guy. My plan was to get in, deliver the dead lady's message, and then get out. I'd told my mom I'd be home by nine, and it had to be nearly eight by now. **

**Rich people. They just don't care about other people's curfews. **

"They don't usually care about anything but themselves."

**Then the Japanese man reappeared, bowed and said, "He will see you now."**

**Whoa, I wondered if I should genuflect. **

**I restrained myself. Instead, I went through the door – and found myself in an elevator. A tiny little elevator with a chair and an end table in it. There was even a plant on the end table. The Japanese man had shut the door behind me, and now I was alone in a tiny room that was definitely moving. Whether it was up or down, I had no way of knowing. There were no numbers on the door to indicate the direction the thing was taking. And there was only one button...**

"I don't like the sound of this," Helen said anxiously. "It's like she's foreshadowing something."

**The room stopped moving. When I reached for the door knob, it turned. And when I stepped out the elevator I found myself in a darkened room with big velvet curtains pulled over the windows, containing only a massive desk, an even more massive aquarium and a single visitor's chair, evidently for me, in front of that desk. Behind the desk sat a man. The man, when he saw me, smiled. **

"**Ah" he said. "You must be Miss Simon." **

"Dun, dun, dun" Brad hummed.

"Shut up Brad, that's not helping Mom's nerves." David snapped.

"Ooh, aren't you in a bad mood," Brad teased. "What's up, Max ate your homework again?"

"No, I just find you very inconsiderate of people's feelings" David said coldly. He passed the book back to his father. "Let's continue reading."

Andy took the book and stared at his youngest with concern. David was usually the most cheerful son, there seemed to be nothing to bring him down. And now he seemed to be tense and upset over something and Andy didn't know what.

It unnerved him just as much as the elevator unnerved Helen.


	7. Chapter 7

**Um," I said. "Yes."**

**It was hard to tell, because it was so dark in the room, but the man behind the desk appeared to be about my stepfather's age. Forty-five or so. He was wearing a sweater over a button-down collared shirt, sort of like Bill Gates always does. He had brown hair that was obviously thinning. Cee Cee was right: it certainly wasn't red. **

"So in other words, he's a dork who thinks he has a cool nickname." Brad yawned.

"Brad, you will be respectful towards Mr. Beaumont. He was a very well mannered man!" Helen snapped.

"Yes Mom…" Brad mumbled.

**And he wasn't anywhere near as good-looking as his son. **

"**Sit down," Mr. Beaumont said. "Sit down. I'm so delighted to see you. Tad's told me so much about you."**

Brad snorted. "Yeah right."

**Yeah, right. I wondered what he'd say if I pointed out that Tad didn't even know my name. But since I was still playing the part of the eager girl reporter, I smiled as I settled into the comfortable leather chair in front of his desk. **

"**Would you like anything?" Mr. Beaumont asked. "Tea? Lemonade?"**

"**Oh, no thank you," I said. It was hard not to stare at the aquarium behind him. It was built into the wall, almost filling it up, and was stocked with every colour fish imaginable. There were lights built into the sand at the bottom of the tank that cast this weird, watery glow around the room. Mr. Beaumont's face, with this wavy light on it, looked kind of Grand Moff Tarkinish. You know, in the final Death Star battle scene. **

"Cool!" David said looking enthusiastic.

"That is so wicked!" Jake agreed.

"Star Wars is the bomb," Brad chipped in.

Helen merely rolled her eyes at the boys and Andy looked rather amused at his sons' enthusiasm.

"**I don't want to put you to any trouble." I said in response to his question about liquid refreshment.**

"Oh, she's so polite!" Helen said happily.

"**Oh, it's no trouble at all. Yoshi can get it for you" Mr. Beaumont reached for the phone on the centre of his giant, Victorian-looking desk. "Shall I ask him to get you anything?"**

"**Really" I said. "I'm fine." and then I crossed my legs because I was still freezing from when I'd stood outside by the guard's house. **

"She should have worn tights; I did warn her that it gets chilly around here!"

"**Oh, but you're cold," Mr. Beaumont said. "Here, let me light a fire."**

"**No," I said. "Really, it's all...right..."**

**My voice trailed off. Mr. Beaumont had not, as Andy would have done, stood up, gone to the fireplace, stuffed wadded up pieces of newspaper under some logs, lit the thing, and then spent the next half hour blowing on it and cursing. **

The boys sniggered at the mental image. Although Andy tried to keep their language nice and proper, they had picked up a lot of swear words just by watching him make a fire.

**Instead, he lifted up a remote control, hit a button, and all of a sudden this cheerful fire was going in the black marble fireplace. I felt its heat at once. **

"Wow, that is so cool…" Brad was impressed.

Andy sniffed. "Just showing off. A real man would work to build up his fire."

"Oh sweetheart, you're far better than a billionaire. Not only do you make your own fire but you cook over it too," Helen said half teasingly. Andy smiled sappily at her and they shared a kiss causing another round of girlish squeals of disgust from their sons.

"**Wow," I said. "That's sure is...convenient."**

"**Isn't it?" Mr. Beaumont smiled at me. He kept looking, for some reason, at the cross around my neck. "I never was one for building fires. So messy. I was never a very good Boy Scout."**

"I bet you were a good Boy Scout!" Helen said smiling up at Andy.

"Of course, I was also a leader back when Jake and Brad were Boy Scouts," Andy grinned. "Shame David could never get into it. Too busy reading."

Noticing David's blush, Helen spoke up. "I was never one for camping. Neither is Suze, we're more into the indoor type activities. Reading is a lovely way to relax I find." she smiled to herself when David looked a little more pleased with himself and less embarrassed.

"I guess I'll just save the camping holidays for me and the two older boys. Maybe I could invite Jesse, he seems to be rather outdoorsy and if he owns a Ranch and travelled he must have camped at some stage…"

"Hey, let's push him in the river," Brad suggested to Jake in a whisper. Jake grinned at his younger brother and nodded. It wasn't the most mature suggestion but then again neither of them had been that mature to begin with.

"**Ha, ha," I said. The only way, I thought to myself, that this could get any weirder would be if it turns out he has that dead lady's head on ice somewhere in the basement, ready for transplantation on to Cindy Crawford's body as soon it becomes available. **

"What films has Suze been watching?" Brad asked disgusted.

"**Well, if I could get straight to the point, Mr. Beaumont-"**

"**Of course. Ten most influential people in Carmel, is it? And what number am I? One, I hope!"**

**He smiled even harder at me. I smiled back at him. I hate to admit it, but this is always my favourite part. There is definitely something wrong with me. **

"I told you so!"

"Brad!"

"**Actually Mr. Beaumont," I said, "I'm not really here to do a story on you for my school paper. I'm here because someone asked me to get a message to you, and this is the only way I could think of to do it. You are a very hard person to get a hold of, you know."**

**His smile had not faltered as I'd told him that I was there under false pretences. He may have hit some secret alarm button under his desk, calling for security, but if he did, I didn't see it. he folded his fingers beneath his chin and, still staring at my gold cross, said, "Yes?" in this expectant way. **

"**The message," I said, sitting up straight, "Is from a woman – sorry, I didn't get her name – who happens to be dead."**

**There was absolutely no change in his expression. Obviously, I decided, a master at hiding his emotions. **

"Or he just pressed the security button."

"**She said for me to tell you," I went on, "That you did not kill her. She doesn't blame you. And she wants you to stop blaming yourself."**

_**That **_**triggered a reaction. He quickly unfolded his fingers, then flattened his hands out across his desk, and stared at me with a look of utter fascination. **

"**She said that?" he asked me eagerly. "A dead woman?"**

**I eyed him uneasily. That wasn't quite the reaction I was used to getting when I delivered messages like the one I'd just given him. Some tears would have been good. A gasp of astonishment. But not this – let's face it – sick kind of interest. **

"I think she's the one with the sick kind of interest," Brad said, "I mean come on shouldn't she be prepared for their reaction and not looking for it? Or the very least start planning an escape plan from an asylum?"

"That's actually a very good point," Andy said rather surprised. "Just badly put forward. Please Brad just _try_ to be nice about your sister."

Brad just shrugged.

"**Yeah." I said standing up. **

**It wasn't just that Mr. Beaumont and his creepy staring was freaking me out. And it wasn't that my dad's warning was ringing in my ears. My mediator instincts were telling me to get out now. And when my instincts tell me to do something, I usually obey. I have often found it beneficial to my health. **

"And how many times has she been in hospital?" Helen moaned to herself quietly.

"**Ok," I said. "Buh-bye."**

**I turned around and headed back for the elevator. But when I tugged on the doorknob, it didn't budge. **

"Oh God," Helen moaned. "Don't tell me I let some psycho into my house the day after he did something to my baby!"

Andy took Helen's hand and squeezed it tight. "I'm sure everything will be fine," he reassured her.

"**Where did you see this woman?" Mr. Beaumont's voice behind me was filled with curiosity. "This dead person?"**

"**I had a dream about her, okay?" I said continuing to tug lamely on the door. "She came to me in a dream. It was really important to her that you knew that she doesn't hold you responsible for anything. And now I've done my duty, so would you mind if I go now? I told my mom I'd be home by nine."**

**But Mr. Beaumont didn't release the elevator door. Instead, he said, in a wondering voice. "You **_**dreamed **_**of her? The dead speak to you in your dreams? Are you a **_**psychic**_**?"**

_**Damn,**_** I said to myself. I should have known. **

"Huh? Know what?"

**This guy was one of those New Agers. He probably had a sensory deprivation tank in his bedroom and burned aromatherapy candles in his bathroom and had a secret little room dedicated to the study of extraterrestrials somewhere in his house. **

The boys laughed and Helen smiled weakly. Trust Suze to immediately come to that conclusion.

"**Yeah," I said, since I'd already dug the hole. I figured I might just as well climb in now. "Yeah, I'm psychic."**

**Keep him talking, I said to myself. Keep him talking while you find another way out. I began to edge towards one of the windows, hidden behind the sweeping velvet curtains. **

"Please let her be on the ground floor!" Helen begged.

"**But look, I can't tell you anything else, okay?" I said. "I just had this one dream. About someone who seems like she might have been a very nice lady. It's a shame about her being dead and all. Who was she anyway? Your, um, wife?"**

**On the word **_**wife**_**, I pulled the curtains apart, expecting to find a window I could neatly put my foot through, then jump to safety. No biggie. I'd done it a hundred times before. **

"What?" Helen shouted. The boys winced and Andy looked a little pale. "Susannah Simon! You could have been killed! You could have died; do you have any idea how high some buildings are? Do you think I want you to come home at nine o'clock in a body bag?"

"Let's keep reading, shall we?" Andy suggested quietly after a moment of silence.

**And there was a window there all right. A ten foot one with lots of individual panes, set back a foot, at least, in a nicely paneled casement. **

**But someone had pulled the shutters – you know, the ones that go on the outside of the house and are mostly just decorative – closed. Tightly closed. Not a ray of sunshine could have penetrated those things. **

"Okay… That's weird…"

"**It must be terribly exciting," Mr. Beaumont was saying behind me as I stared at the shutters, wondering if they would open if I kicked them hard enough. But then who was to say what kind of drop lay below them? I could be fifty feet up for all I knew. I've made some serious leaps in my life, but I usually like to know what I'm leaping into before I go for it. **

Helen shuddered and let out another groan.

"**Being psychic, I mean." Tad's dad went on. "I wonder if you mind getting in touch with other deceased individuals I might know. There are a few people I've been longing to talk to…"**

"**It doesn't-" I let go of those curtains and moved to the next window – "Work that way."**

**Same thing. The window was completely shuttered up. Not even a chink where sunlight might spill through. In fact they looked almost nailed shut. **

"This _is_ getting a little creepy," Jake muttered.

"It's very suspicious." David agreed frowning.

**But that was ridiculous. Who would nail shutters over their windows? Especially with the kind of sea view I was sure Mr. Beaumont's house afforded. **

"**Oh, but surely, if you really concentrated-" Mr. Beaumont's pleasant voice followed me as I moved to the next window – "You could communicate with just a few others. I mean, you've already succeeded with one. What's a few more? I'd pay you of course."**

"I don't think Suze's powers work like that," David said, "Though if we were to get her to attempt it. Maybe experiment and see if she could actually call up a ghost...hmmm..."

"Just remember Dave, Suze can kick your butt back to New York if she wants to!" Jake reminded his younger brother. He knew how annoying and persistent David can get when he has a theory he wants to test out.

**I couldn't believe it. Every single one of the windows was shuttered. **

"**Um," I said as I got to the last window and found it similarly shuttered. "Agoraphobic much?"**

**Mr. Beaumont must have finally noticed what I was doing since he said, casually, "Oh, that. Yes. I'm sensitive to sunlight. So bad for the skin."**

"And you live in California because...?"

"Brad don't be callous. I'm sensitive to sunlight here and I live here because this is where our family is based."

**Oh, okay. This guy was certifiable. **

"Looks like I'm not the only one being callous, am I? Mr. I'm-Suze's-Biggest-Fan!"

"Brad, do you even know what callous means?"

"Shuddup!"

"I take that as a no…"

**There was only one other door in the room, and that one was behind Mr. Beaumont, next to the aquarium. I didn't exactly relish the idea of going anywhere near that guy, so I headed back to the elevator. **

"**Look, can you please unlock this so I can go home?" I tugged on the knob, trying not to let my fear show. "My mom is really strict, and if I miss my curfew, she...she might **_**beat**_** me."**

"WHAT?"

In all honesty even Andy thought the windows had shattered at Helen's shrill scream. The boys all cowed below her as she ranted about how she would never do something so low, so disgusting as hit her own child. She threw out several statistics that she obviously got from her years as a news reporter and then ended it with a tearful look at Andy's direction.

"Am I really that bad a mother?"

"Of course not, darling." Andy said softly as he pulled her into a hug. "Suze is just saying that to escape the bad guy. She never believed you'd hit her."

**I know this was shoveling it on a bit thick – especially if he ever happened to watch the local news and say my mother doing one of her reports. She is so not the abusive type. **

"_See_?"

"I guess..." Helen said uncertain.

**But the thing was, there was something so creepy about him, I really just wanted to get out, and I didn't care how. I'd have said anything to get out of there. **

"Yes, you're definitely right Andy." Helen now felt completely reassured about her mothering abilities. She knows that she never raised a hand to her daughter but she hadn't been able to understand Suze either. Until now that was. She vowed that Suze and she would be having a very, very long talk indeed.

"I usually am."

"Urgh, don't start the kissing thing again. You've just been all soppy and dramatic seconds ago!"

"Shut up Brad!"

"**Do you think," Mr. Beaumont wanted to know, "That if I were very quiet, you might be able to summon this woman's spirit again so that I could have a word with her?"**

"**No," I said. "Could you please open this door?"**

"**Don't you wonder what she could have meant?" Mr. Beaumont asked me. "I mean, she told you to tell me not to blame myself for her death. As if I, in some way, were responsible for killing her. Didn't that make you wonder a little, Miss Simon? I mean, about whether or not I might be a-"**

"A what?"

"Let me read and we might find out"

**Right then, to my utter relief, the knob to the elevator door turned in my hand. But not, it turned out, because Mr. Beaumont had released it. No, it turned out somebody was getting out of the elevator. **

"So we don't know what he might be...bugger!"

"Gee Brad; I didn't know that you found Suze's life so interesting."

"I don't, I just want to know who the creepy guy really is."

"**Hello," said a blond man, much younger than Mr. Beaumont, and dressed in a suit and tie. "What have we here?"**

"**This is Miss Simon, Marcus," Mr Beaumont said, happily. "She's a psychic."**

**Marcus, for some reason, kept looking at my necklace too. Not just my necklace, either, but my whole throat area. **

"Okay…"

"**Psychic, eh?" he said, his gaze sweeping the neckline of my sweater. "Is that what you two were discussing down here? Yoshi told me something about a newspaper article..."**

"**Oh, no," Mr Beaumont waved a hand as if to dismiss the whole newspaper thing. "That was just something she made up to get me to see her so she could tell me about the dream. Really quite an extraordinary dream, Marcus. She says she had a dream that a woman told her I didn't kill her. **_**Didn't**_** kill her, Marcus. Isn't that interesting?"**

"And all of a sudden Mr. Beaumont was put in an asylum while Suze was escorted back home by the police!" Brad said smirking at the memory of his parents telling Suze off.

"Hang on didn't that happen two days after this?" David asked who had a far more accurate memory than Brad.

"It still happened!"

"Please," Helen groaned, "Don't remind me."

"**It certainly is," Marcus said. He took hold of my arm. "Well, I'm glad you two had a nice little visit. Now I'm afraid Miss Simon has to go."**

"**Oh, no" Mr. Beaumont, for the first time, stood up behind his desk. He was very tall, I noticed. He also had on green corduroy pants. Green!**

**Really, if you ask me, that was the weirdest thing of all. **

"Shutters, creepy guy, creepy questions, unfinished sentence, aquarium and _that's_ what she found the weirdest thing? Green pants!"

"Suze's priorities have never been the most organized."

"What a freaking girl."

"Bradley!"

"**We were just getting to know one another." Mr. Beaumont said mournfully. **

"**I told my mom I'd be home by nine." I told Marcus really fast. **

**Marcus was no dummy. He steered me right into that elevator saying, to Mr. Beaumont, "We'll have Miss Simon back sometime soon."**

"**Wait" Mr. Beaumont started to come around from behind his desk. "I haven't had a chance to-"**

**But Marcus jumped into the elevator with me and, letting go of me, slammed the door behind him. **

"And that's the end of this entry." Andy said passing the book to his wife. "You're all right to read this?"

Helen nodded. "I've got to know what happened to her. Something bad happened to make the police bring her home and it can't just be a spontaneous fire."

"I still think I should have grounded her for longer…" Andy muttered.


	8. Chapter 8

**A second later we were moving. Whether we were going up or down. I still couldn't tell. But it didn't really matter. The fact was, we were moving, and away from Mr Beaumont, which, was all I cared about. **

"**Jeez!" I couldn't help bursting out as soon as I knew I was safe, "What is **_**with**_** that guy?"**

**Marcus looked down at me. **

"**Did Mr. Beaumont hurt you in any way, Miss Simon?"**

**I blinked at him. "No."**

"Just acted very creepy," Helen said shuddering a little.

"**I'm very glad to hear that." Marcus looked a little relieved, but he tried to cover it up by being businesslike. "Mr. Beaumont," he said, "Is a little tired this evening. He is a very important, very busy man."**

Brad snorted. "Just tired, right. And I'm a Honours student."

"I wish you _were_ an Honours student" Andy grumbled.

"**I hate to be the one to tell you this, but that's guy's more than just tired."**

"**Be that as it may," Marcus said, "Mr. Beaumont does not have time for little girls who enjoy playing pranks."**

"Ooh...she's not going to like that!"

"_**Prank**_**?" I echoed, mightily offended. "Listen, mister, I really did..." what was I **_**saying**_**? "I really did, um, have that dream, and I resent-"**

**Marcus looked down at me tiredly. "Miss Simon," he said in a bored voice. "I really don't want to have to call your parents. And if you promise me you won't bother Mr. Beaumont ever again with any more of this psychic dream business, I won't."**

**I almost laughed out loud at that. My **_**parents**_**? I'd been worried he was set to call the **_**police**_**. My parents I could handle. The police were another matter entirely. **

"Oh really?" Helen looked unimpressed. "She can handle us can she? I think we're going to have a very long talk with her about this."

"Already added to the list, darling."

"**Oh," I said when the elevator stopped and Marcus opened the door and let me back out into the little corridor off the courtyard where they kept the pool. "All right." I tried to put a lot of petulant disappointment in my voice. "I promise."**

"**Thank you." Marcus said. **

"Why didn't Suze major in Drama? She would have aced it."

"Maybe Suze wanted something more challenging for the mind unlike you Brad…"

**He nodded, and then started walking me towards the front door. **

**He probably would have kicked me out without another thought if it hadn't been for the fact that as we were heading past the pool I happened to notice that someone was swimming laps in it. I couldn't tell who it was at first. It was really dark out, the night sky both moonless and starless because of a thick layer of clouds and the only lights were the big round ones under the water. They made the person in it look all distorted – kind of like Mr. Beaumont's face with the light from the aquarium all over it. **

"Sounds a little creepy."

**But then the swimmer reached the end of the pool and, his exercise regimen apparently complete, lifted himself out of it, and reached for a towel he'd thrown across a deck chair. **

**I froze. **

"Oh jeez, don't tell me..." Brad trailed off as he pulled a face.

**And not just because I recognized him. I froze because really, it's not every day you see a **_**Greek god **_**right here on earth. **

The boys groaned in disgust.

**I mean it. Tad Beaumont in a bathing suit was a beautiful sight to see. In the blue light from the pool, he looked like an Adonis, with water sparkling all over the dark hair that coated his chest and legs. And if his abs weren't quite as impressive as Jesse's, well, at least he had a really buff set of biceps to make up for it. **

"La, la, la, la, not listening, la, la, la" Brad sang, hands over his ears.

"Brad, quit it. Jake and David stop plugging your ears, if I have to suffer this then so will you."

"Yes Dad."

"**Hi, Tad," I said. **

**Tad looked up. He'd been drying himself with the towel. Now he paused and looked me over. **

"**Oh, hey," he said, recognizing me. A big smile broke out across his face. "It's you."**

Brad snorted. "Doesn't even know her name!"

**Cee Cee had been right. He didn't even know my name. **

"**Yeah," I said. "Suze Simon. From Kelly Prescott's party."**

"**Sure, I remember." Tad sauntered over to us, the towel slung casually over his shoulders. "How you doin'?"**

**His smile was something to see, let me tell you. His dad had probably paid some orthodontist a pretty penny for it, but it was worth it, every cent. **

"Or maybe it's natural. Some people are born lucky like that." Helen said sighing.

"Met someone with naturally gorgeous teeth?"

"A snotty little cheerleader back in school. She boasted how she never needed braces or anything. I suffered two years of braces in Middle School to get this smile!"

"Don't worry Mom," Jake said, "I had to wear braces back in Elementary."

"You looked so cute back then!" Andy teased.

"**You know this young lady, Tad?" Marcus said, his disbelief evident in his tone. **

"**Oh, sure" Tad said. He stood next to me, water still dripping from his dark hair like diamonds. "We go way back."**

The boys snorted. "Yeah, right." Brad muttered.

"**Well," Marcus said. And then he evidently couldn't think of anything to add to that, since he said it again. "**_**Well.**_**"**

"Probably thinks Suze isn't good enough," Brad snickered as Helen glared at the book.

**And then, after an awkward silence, he said it a third time, but then added, "I guess I'll leave you two alone then. Tad you'll show Miss Simon the way out?"**

"**Sure," Tad said. Then when Marcus had disappeared back through the sliding glass doors into the house, he whispered, "Sorry about that. Marcus is a great guy, but he's kind of a worrier."**

**Having met his boss, I didn't exactly blame Marcus for worrying. But since I couldn't say that to Tad, I just went, "I'm sure he's very nice."**

"Just a little snobby"

**And then I told him about the story I was doing for the school paper. I figured even if they discussed it later, his dad wasn't going to go, "Oh, no **_**that's**_** not why she was here. She was here to tell me about this dream she had."**

**And even if he did, he was so weird I doubt even his own son would believe him. **

Jake and Brad laughed while Andy shot them a disapproving look. "It's not funny for someone to have mental problems. I won't have you two laughing about it." the boys immediately stopped and looked at Andy with a sheepish look.

"**Huh," Tad said when I was through describing my article on the ten most influential people in Carmel. "That's cool."**

"**Yeah," I babbled on. "I didn't even know he was your dad." God, I can lay it on when I try. "I mean I never did get your last name. So this is a real surprise. Hey, listen, can I borrow a phone? I've got to see about engineering a ride home."**

**Tad looked down at me in surprise. "You need a ride? No sweat. I'll take you."**

**I couldn't help looking him up and down. I mean, he was practically naked and all. Ok, well not naked, since he was wearing a pair of swimming trunks that did reach practically to his knees. But he was naked enough for me to not to be able to look away. **

"Urgh, that's disgusting. I don't want to know about Suze's hormones."

"Yuck!"

"Almost as bad as Mom and Dad kissing."

Andy and Helen merely rolled their eyes.

"**Um," I said. "Thanks."**

**He followed my gaze, and looked down at his dripping shorts. **

"**Oh," he said, the beautiful smile going gorgeously sheepish. "Let me just throw something on first. Wait here for me?"**

**And he took the towel from around his beck and started towards the back of his house. **

**But froze when I gasped and said, "Oh, my God! What's wrong with your **_**neck**_**?"**

"You mean Adam's rumours actually had some truth behind them?"

"David don't be ridiculous, nothing that fag says is r-"

"Consider yourself grounded another week Brad!"

"But Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad..."

**Instantly he hunched his shoulders, and spun around to face me again. "Nothing," he said too fast. **

"**There most certainly is **_**not**_** nothing wrong with it." I said taking a step toward him. "You've got some kind of horrible-"**

**And then, my voice tailing off, I dropped my gaze down towards my hands. **

"Ah, poison oak. She must have given it to him."

"**Look," Tad said uncomfortably. "It's just poison oak. I know it's gross. I've had it for a couple of days. It looks worse than it is. I don't know how I got it, especially on the back of my neck but-"**

"**I do."**

**I held up both of my hands. In the blue glow from the pool lights, the rash on them looked particularly grotesque – just like the rash on the back of his neck. **

"**I tripped and fell into some plants the night of Kelly's party," I explained. "And right after that, you asked me to dance..."**

**Tad looked down at my hands. Then he started to laugh. **

"He's not so bad then if he found it funny" Helen said smiling fondly. "Means he isn't vain or superficial."

"**I'm so sorry" I said. I really felt bad. I mean, I had disfigured the guy. This incredibly sexy, fabulous-looking guy. "Really, you don't know-"**

**But Tad kept on laughing. And after a while, I started laughing with him. **

"End of entry."

"Well that was short!"

"I have a feeling that the next one will be longer to make up for the length of this one."


	9. Chapter 9

"**Shuttered," Father Dominic repeated. "The windows were shuttered?"**

"Did we miss something?" Brad frowned. "When did Father D get there?"

"It's a scene skip, you moron. I'm sure Suze will fill us in any time," Jake said rolling his eyes.

"**Well, not all of them," I said. I was sitting in the chair across from his desk, picking at my poison oak. The hydrocortisone was drying it out. Now, instead of oozy, it was just plain scaly. **

"Lovely!"

"**Just the ones in his office, or whatever it was. He said he's sensitive to light."**

"**And you say he kept staring at your neck?"**

"**At my necklace. It was his assistant who checked out my throat like he expected to see a giant hickey there, or something. But you're missing the point, Father Dom."**

"What is the point?"

"That there's something fishy about Beaumont. Do try to keep up Brad, otherwise we will starve to death."

**I had decided to come clean with the good father. Well, at least about the dead woman who'd been waking me up in the middle of the night lately. I still wasn't ready to tell him about Jesse – especially considering what happened when Tad had dropped me off the night before – but I figured if Thaddeus Beaumont Senior was actually the creepy killer I couldn't help suspecting he might be, I was going to need Father D's help to bring him to justice. **

"**The point," I said, "Is that he was surprised for the wrong reason. He was surprised this woman had said he **_**hadn't**_** killed her. Which implies – to me anyway – that he really had. Killed her, I mean."**

"See?"

"I thought David was supposed to be the smug smart one not you?"

**Father Dominic had been working a straightened-out coat hanger underneath his cast when I walked in. Apparently he had an itch. **

Helen grimaced, but the boys all looked unbothered. She couldn't help but think with disgust, _men!_

**He'd stopped scratching, but he couldn't let go of the piece of wire. He kept fingering it thoughtfully. But at least he hadn't gotten the cigarettes out yet.**

"**Sensitive to light," he kept murmuring. "Looking at your neck."**

"**The point," I said again, "Is that it seems like he really did kill this lady. I mean, he practically admitted it. The problem is, how can we prove it? We don't even know her name, let alone where she's buried – if anybody bothered burying her at all. We don't even have a body to point to. Even if we went to the cops, what would we say?"**

"Hello officer, we are deeply disturbed people who see ghosts and solve their problems, a woman has been keeping me awake claiming that Red Beaumont hasn't killed her but I think he did really!"

"Bradley, I am warning you. One more sarcastic comment and you're back in that corner!"

"Yes Dad…"

**Father D, however, was deeply absorbed in his own thoughts, turning the wire over and over in his hands. I figured if he was going to slip off into la-la land, well, then I would too. I sat back in my chair, scratching my poison oak, and thought about what had happened after Tad and I had got done laughing at each other's disfiguring rash – the only part of my evening I hadn't described to Father Dom. **

Jake, David and Brad shared a wary glance. If it involved more half-naked Tad then they weren't going to survive this chapter.

**Tad had gone and changed clothes.**

A collective sigh of relief could be heard.

**I had waited out by the pool, the steam rising from it warming my pantyhose-clad legs. Nobody bothered me, and it had actually been kind of restful listening to the waterfall. After a while, Tad reappeared, his hair still wet, but fully dressed in jeans and, unfortunately, another black silk shirt. He was even wearing a gold necklace, though I doubt he won his by writing a scintillating essay on James Madison.**

**It was all I could do not to point out that the gold was probably irritating his rash, and that black silk with jeans on a man is hopelessly Staten Island.**

Everyone snorted. Trust Suze to criticise her date's clothes.

**I managed to restrain myself, however, and Tad took me back inside, where Yoshi reappeared like magic with my coat. Then we went out to Tad's car, which I saw to my complete horror was some kind of sleek black thing that I swear to God David Hasselhoff drove on that show he did before **_**Baywatch**_**. It had these deep leather seats and kind of stereo system that Sleepy would have killed for.**

Jake paused for a moment as he imagined the stereo system and inwardly groaned with jealousy. _So_ not fair, the rich got almost everything.

**And as I put my seatbelt on, I prayed Tad was a good driver since I would die of embarrassment if anyone ever had to use the Jaws of Life to pry me from a car like that. **

The boys snickered and Helen was rather horrified at the thought of Suze needing to be pried out of a car because of an accident.

**Tad, however, seemed to think the car was cool, and that in it, he was too. and I'm sure that in Poland, or somewhere, it is considered cool to drive a Porsche and wear necklaces and black silk, but at least back in Brooklyn if you did those things you were either a drug dealer or from New Jersey. **

**But Tad apparently didn't know that. He put the car in gear and an instant later, we were on the Drive, taking the hairpin curves along the coast as easily as if we were on a magic carpet. As he drove, Tad asked if I wanted to go somewhere, maybe get a cup of coffee. I guess now that we shared the common bond of poison oak, he wanted to hang.**

**I said sure, even though I hate coffee, and he let me use his cellphone to call my mother and tell her I'd be late. Mt mom was so thrilled to hear I was going somewhere with a boy, she didn't even do the usual things mothers do when their daughters are out with a boy they didn't know, like demand his mother's name and home phone number.**

"That isn't right," Andy said, "You should have gotten his social security number, full identification and a complete background check completed by not only the police but also an experienced detective."

"Don't you think that's a little extreme?" Helen asked.

"Dear, Suze's last boyfriend tried to kill her and before that he tried to kill all of our sons. And this one now is apparently dead. I think I'm justified in being extreme."

Brad merely shuddered at the memory of Suze's ex. Both Jake and David nodded their agreement. They all knew about Suze's disastrous romantic life.

**I hung up, and we went to the Coffee Clutch, a particularly favourite haunt of kids from the Mission Academy. Cee Cee and Adam, it turned out, were there, but when they saw me come in with a boy, they tactfully pretended not to know me. At least, Cee Cee did. Adam kept looking over and making rude faces whenever Tad's back was turned. I don't know if the faces were due to the fact that Tad's rash was plainly evident even in the Coffee Clutch's dim lighting, or if Adam was just expressing his personal feelings over Tad Beaumont in general. **

"Most likely the latter!"

**In any case, after two cappuccinos – for him – and two hot ciders for me, we left, and Tad drove me home. He wasn't, I discovered, a particularly bright guy. He talked an awful lot about basketball. When he wasn't talking about basketball, he was talking about sailing, and when he wasn't talking about sailing, he was talking about jet-skiing.**

"How _boring_," Helen muttered.

"How _cool_, Suze has great taste," Jake muttered to Brad who nodded in agreement.

**And suffice it to say, I know nothing about basketball, sailing or jet-skiing.**

**But he seemed like a decent enough guy. And unlike his father, he was clearly not nuts, always a positive.**

"And clearly not all her boyfriends are?"

**And he was, of course, devastatingly good-looking, so all in all, I would have rated the evening around a seven or eight, on a one to ten scale, one being lousy, ten being sublime. **

"You know what?"

"What, Brad?" David asked tiredly.

"I bet only Jesse ever got a ten."

No one could argue that. For once Brad was probably right.

**And then, as I was undoing my seat belt after having said goodnight, Tad suddenly leaned over, took my chin in his hand, turned my face towards him, and kissed me. **

The boys grimaced. Helen squealed.

**My first kiss. Ever. **

"Oh gross!"

"How sweet!"

**I know it's hard to believe. I'm so vibrant and bubbly and all, you would think boys had been flocking to me like bees to honey all my life. **

Brad and Jake snorted.

**Let's just say that's not exactly what happened. I like to blame the fact that I am a biological freak – being able to communicate with the dead and all – for the fact that I have never once been on a date, but I know that's not really it. I'm just not the kind of girl guys think about asking out. Well, maybe they think about it, but they always seem to manage to talk themselves out of it. I don't know if it's because they think I might ram a fist down their throat if they try anything or if it's just because they are intimidated by my superior intelligence and good looks (ha ha).**

"The first one. Definitely the first one,"

"Is there something you haven't told us Brad?"

"WHAT? NO! EW!" Brad squawked looking horrified. "Some guys talk about her in the locker room. They're terrified of her!"

**In the end, they just aren't interested. **

**Until Tad, that is. Tad was interested. Tad was**_** very**_** interested. **

"Ick!"

**Tad was expressing his interest by deepening our kiss from just a little goodnight one to a fully fledged French – which I was enjoying immensely, by the way, in spite of the necklace and the silk shirt – when I happened to notice - yeah, okay. I'll admit it. My eyes were open. Hey, it was my first kiss, I wasn't going to miss anything, okay? – That there was somebody sitting in the Porsche's tiny little back seat. **

Jake looked like he was constipated as he read the paragraph out loud. Brad had blocked his ears and chanted 'Ew,' repeatedly while Andy and David exchanged nauseous looks. Helen looked rather pleased. Until Jake read the next sentence out.

**I pulled my head away and let out a little scream. **

"Well _that's_ a mood kill."

"I wonder what she saw?"

**Tad blinked at me in confusion. **

"**What's wrong?" he asked. **

"**Oh, please," said the person in the back seat, pleasantly. "Don't stop on my account."**

"A ghost? It better not be Peter or I'll bring him back to life just to kill him again!"

"Mom, it was just a kiss…"

"My baby's first kiss! An important moment!"

**I looked at Tad. "I gotta go," I said. "Sorry."**

**And I practically flew out of that car.**

**I was barreling up the driveway to my house, my cheeks on fire with embarrassment, when Jesse caught up with me. He wasn't even walking fast. He was just strolling along.**

Helen looked a bit taken back that it was Jesse who interrupted Suze's kiss, then suddenly grinned.

**And he actually had the nerve to say, "It's your own fault."**

"He's jealous!"

The boys groaned.

"**How is it my fault?" I demanded, as Tad, after hesitating a moment, started backing out of our driveway.**

"**You shouldn't," Jesse said calmly, "have let him get so forward."**

"Isn't that a little _backward_ of him?" Brad joked.

"Brad, Jesse is from the nineteenth century. It was wrong to have such physical relations with someone until after marriage"

"Which means his love for Suze is honourable!" Helen almost swooned.

"And someone won't be laid for a long time," Brad muttered under his breath.

"_**Forward**_**? What are you **_**talking**_** about? **_**Forward**_**? What does that even **_**mean**_**?"**

"**You hardly know him," Jesse said. "And you were letting him-"**

**I whirled around to face him. Fortunately by that time, Tad was gone. Otherwise, he would have seen me, in the glow of his headlights, twirling around in my driveway, yelling at the moon, which had finally broken through the clouds. **

"Yes, that would be a little embarrassing."

"**Oh, no," I said, loudly. "Don't even **_**go**_** there, Jesse."**

"**Well," Jesse said. In the moonlight, I could see that his expression was one of stubborn determination. The stubbornness was no mystery – Jesse was just about the stubbornest person I had ever met. **

"Hmm...Who does that sound like?"

– **But what he was so determined about, except ruining my life, I couldn't figure out. "You were."**

"_**We were just saying goodnight,**_**" I hissed at him.**

Everyone laughed. "That's the worst and oldest lie in the book" Andy said. "I should know, Jake tried that one me when he was fourteen."

"**I may have been dead for the past hundred and fifty years, Susannah," Jesse said, "But that doesn't mean I don't know how people say goodnight. And generally when people say goodnight, they keep their tongues to themselves."**

More laughter.

"**Oh, my God," I said. I turned away from him, and started heading back towards the house. "Oh, my God. He did **_**not **_**just say that."**

"He did!" said Brad cheerfully.

"**Yes, I did just say that." Jesse followed me. "I know what I saw, Susannah."**

"He's sounding like a jealous boyfriend!" Helen said, just as happy as Brad.

"**You know what you sound like?" I asked him, turning around at the bottom of the steps to the front porch to face him. "You sound like a jealous boyfriend."**

"Looks like Suze has figured that one out too," David observed.

"_**Nombre de Dios**_**. I am not," Jesse said with a laugh, "jealous of that-"**

"He's jealous," Andy agreed.

"**Oh, yeah? Then where's all this hostility coming from? Tad never did anything to you."**

"**Tad," Jesse said, "is a..."**

**And then he said a word I couldn't understand, because it was in Spanish. **

"Probably something very rude beginning with a B," Brad said knowingly. "In English," he added hastily.

**I stared at him. "A what?"**

**He said the word again. **

"**Look," I said. "Speak English."**

"**There is no English translation," Jesse said, setting his jaw, "For that word."**

"How sweet! He doesn't want to ruin her innocence"

"I think he's a bit too late for that."

"**Well," I said. "Keep it to yourself then."**

"**He's no good for you," Jesse said, as if that settled the matter. **

"I agree," Andy said. "The boy has no common interests, doesn't have the courtesy to ask her name and appears to be a bit of a playboy."

"But he is well-mannered, friendly, polite and very kind," Helen pointed out.

"He's father is a nutter that has a unhealthy interest in Suze's ability!"

"But that is sort of expected, Dad. There's many scientists in say Area 51 who will have a great interest in Suze's ability."

"I think Jesse is better for her,"

"Only because she won't get laid."

"Bradley, I'm warning you!"

"**You don't even **_**know**_** him."**

"**I know enough. I know you didn't listen to me or to your father when you went off tonight by yourself to that man's house."**

"Yeah but that's not about Tad,"

"**Right," I said. "And I'll admit it, it was very, very creepy. But Tad brought me home. Tad's not the problem there. His dad's the one who is a freak, not Tad."**

"**The problem here," Jesse said, shaking his head, "Is you, Susannah. You think you don't need anyone, that you can handle everything on your own."**

"Eh..."

Everyone was a little confused. They all thought the problem was that Jesse saw Suze kiss a boy that wasn't Jesse. Not that Suze was a stubborn independent woman who wanted to do things her way.

"He's grasping at straws," Helen said.

"**I hate to break it to you, Jesse," I said, "But I **_**can**_** handle everything on my own." Then I remembered Heather, the ghost of the girl who almost killed me the week before. "Well almost everything," I corrected myself.**

"**Ah," Jesse said. "See? You admit it. Susannah, this one – you need to ask the priest for help."**

"_**Fine**_**," I said. "I will."**

"_**Fine**_**," he said. "You had better."**

"Like an old married couple" Brad muttered to his brothers who both nodded.

**We were so mad at each other, and had been standing there yelling so hard, our faces ended up only a few inches apart. For a split second, I stared up at Jesse, and even though I was totally mad at him, I wasn't thinking about what a self-righteous jerk he is.**

"Oh, God!" the boys groaned.

**Instead, I was thinking about this movie I saw once where the hero caught the heroine kissing another man, and so he grabbed her and looked down at her all passionately and said, "If kisses were what you were looking for, little fool, why didn't you come to me?"**

**And then he laughed this evil laugh and started kissing her.**

"Who does that? Seriously in real life who the hell does that?"

"Language, Jake… But I agree."

**Maybe, I couldn't help thinking, Jesse would do that, only he'd call me **_**querida**_**, like he does sometimes when he's not all mad at me for Frenching guys in cars. **

**And so I sort of closed my eyes, and let my mouth get all relaxed, you know, in cased he decided to stick his tongue in there. **

The men snorted as Helen leaned forwards with a hopeful look on her face.

**But all that happened was that the screen door slammed and when I opened my eyes, Jesse was gone. **

**Instead, Doc was standing on the front porch looking down at me, eating an ice-cream sandwich.**

Helen glared at David who cringed. "Sorry Mom," he muttered.

"**Hey," Doc said between licks. "What are you doing out here? And who were you yelling at? I could hear you all the way inside. I'm trying to watch **_**Nova**_**, you know."**

**Furious – but at myself more than anybody – I said, "Nobody," and stalked up the stairs and into the house. **

**Which was why the next day, I come to Father Dom's office first thing, and spilled my guts. No way was Jesse getting away with accusing me of thinking I don't need anyone. I need a lot of people.**

"He knows how to get to her, doesn't he?" Andy said bemused.

**And a boyfriend would be number one on that list, thank you very much. **

"Ick!"

"**Sensitive to light," Father Dominic said, coming out of his thoughtful reverie. "His nickname is Red but he doesn't have red hair. He was looking at your neck." Father Dominic opened the top drawer of his desk and took out his crumpled, unopened pack of cigarettes. "Don't you see, Susannah?" he asked me. **

"Err...no."

"Brad your name isn't Susannah. Unless there's something you haven't told us?"

"Shuddup!"

"**Sure," I said. "He's a whacko,"**

Everyone snorted.

"**I don't think so," Father Dom said. "I think he's a vampire."**

"A vampire!" Helen squawked. "It's bad enough that my baby has to put up with spooks that get her hospitalised but now creatures that bite, drain blood and could turn her into the living dead!"

"She's already the living dead," Brad muttered.

"That's it, corner, Bradley!"

"But Dad, it's his turn to read." Protested Jake.

"All right then, after this entry you have to sit in the corner."

"But-"

"No buts, Bradley."

Sulking, Brad took the book and turned the page over and began to read.


	10. Chapter 10

**I gaped at him.**

"**Uh, Father D?" I said after a while. "No offence, but have you taken too many of your pain pills or something? Because I hate to be the one to break it to you, but there's no such thing as vampires."**

"What? How can someone who can see ghosts be so skeptical about vampires?" David asked.

"She probably read Twilight," Andy muttered. Helen had made him read it when it became a big hit, he couldn't quite see what was so special about a sparkly vampire, a werewolf that was not a werewolf and a girl that was wet and wimpy. Then again he'd been raising Suze - any girl was going to look wimpy compared to her.

**Father Dom looked closer than I'd ever seen him to ripping that pack open and popping one of those cigarettes into his mouth. He restrained himself however. **

"**How," he asked, "Do you know?"**

"**How do I know what?" I demanded. "That there's no such thing as vampires? Um, the same way I know there's no Easter Bunny or Tooth Fairy."**

**Father Dominic said, "Ah, but people say that about ghosts. And you and I both know that that's not true."**

"At least Father Dominic can keep an open mind and _he's_ a Catholic priest," David said.

"**Yeah," I said, "But I've **_**seen **_**ghosts. I've never seen a vampire. And I've hung out in a lot of cemeteries."**

Helen shuddered.

**Father Dominic said, "Well, not to state the obvious, Susannah, but I've been around a good deal longer than you have and while I myself have never before encountered a vampire, I am at least willing to concede the possibility of such a creature existing."**

"**Yeah," I said. "Okay, Father D. Let's just go out on a limb here and say the guy's a vampire. Red Beaumont is a very high-profile guy. If he was going to go running around after dark biting people on the neck, somebody would notice, don't you think?"**

"Not if he has employees eager to protect him," David pointed out.

"**Not," Father Dominic said, "if he has, like you said, employees who are eager to protect him."**

David couldn't help grin, he liked the fact that Father Dominic thought on a similar level to him. Meant that he was wise.

**This was too much. I said, "Okay. This has gotten a little too Stephen King for me. I gotta get back to class or Mr. Walden's going to think I'm AWOL. But if I get a note from you later saying I'm gonna have to stake this guy in the heart, all bets are off. Tad Beaumont will totally not ask me to the prom if I killed his dad."**

"Is that all she cares about?"

**Father Dominic put the cigarettes aside. "This," he said, "Is going to take some researching..."**

**I left Father Dominic doing what he loved best, which was surfing the Net. The Mission's administrative offices had only recently gotten computers, and no one there really knew how to use them very well. Father Dominic in particular had no idea how a mouse worked, and was constantly sweeping it from one side of his desk to the other, no matter how many times I told him all he had to do was keep it on the mouse pad. It would have been cute if it hadn't been so frustrating.**

Everyone snickered at the mental image of Father Dominic struggling with a computer.

**I decided, as I walked down the breezeway, that I would have to get Cee Cee on the job. She was a little more adept at surfing the Web than Father Dominic.**

**As I approached Mr. Walden's classroom – which last week had unfortunately received the brunt of the damage in what everyone had assumed was a freak earthquake, but which had actually bee an exorcism gone awry – I noticed, standing to one side of the pile of rubble that had once been a decorative arch, a little boy. **

Jake hummed the tune of _Exorcist._ David rolled his eyes and Andy smacked him at the back of his head.

**It wasn't unusual to see very little kids hanging around the halls of the Mission Academy since the school had classes from kindergarten all the way up to twelfth grade. What was unusual about this kid, however, was that he was glowing a little. **

**And also, the construction workers who were swarming around trying to put the breezeway back up occasionally walked right through him.**

**He looked up at me as I approached, as if he'd been waiting for me. Which, in fact, he had been.**

"**Hey," he said. **

"**Hi," I said. The workmen were playing the radio pretty loud, so fortunately none of them noticed the weird girl standing there talking to herself.**

"Thank God, I don't want to visit my daughter in an asylum!"

"**You the mediator?" the kid wanted to know.**

"**One of them," I said. **

"**Good. I got a problem."**

**I looked down at him. He couldn't have been more than nine or ten years old. Then I remembered the other day at lunch, the Mission's bells had run out nine times, and Cee Cee had explained it was because one of the third graders had died after a long bout with cancer. You couldn't tell it to look at the kid – the dead I encounter never wear outward signs of the cause of their death, assuming instead the form in which they'd lived before whatever illness or accident had taken their lives – but this little guy apparently had a wicked case of leukemia. Timothy, I thought Cee Cee had said his name was. **

"**You're Timothy," I said. **

"**Tim," he corrected me, making a face. **

"**Sorry. What can I do for you?"**

**Timothy, all business, said, "It's about my cat."**

**I nodded. "Of course. What about your cat?"**

"**My mom doesn't want him around," Timothy said. For a dead kid, he was surprisingly straightforward. "Every time she sees him, he reminds her of me so she starts crying."**

"Sounds a bit like you, Dave. All serious and straightforward," Jake commented.

"**I see," I said. "Would you like me to find your cat another home?"**

"**That's the basic idea," Timothy said.**

**I was thinking that about the last thing I wanted to deal with right then was finding some mangy cat a new home, but I smiled gamely and said, "No problem."**

"**Great," Timothy said. "There's just one catch..."**

**Which was how, after school that day, I found myself standing in a field behind the Carmel Valley mall, yelling, "Here, kitty, kitty, kitty!"**

"Hang on, isn't this how Spike came to the family?" Jake asked.

Andy nodded. "Suze said it was a favour for Father Dominic who heard confession from the dead boy's father. Of course it appears she's been lying, I'll have to add that to our lecture."

"But it's so sweet for her to be so willing to help," Helen cooed. Brad rolled his eyes.

**Adam, whose help – and car – I'd enlisted, **

"She means enslaved," Brad said quietly.

**Was the one beating the tall yellow grass since I'd shown him my poison oaky hands and explained that I could not possibly be expected to venture anywhere near vegetation. He straightened, listed a hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead – the sun was beaming down hard enough to make me long for the beach with it's cool ocean breezes and, more importantly, totally hot lifeguards – and said, "Okay. I get that it's important that we find this dead kid's cat. But why are we looking for it in a field? Wouldn't it be smarter to look for it at the kid's house?"**

"**No," I said. "Timothy's father couldn't stand listening to his wife cry every time she saw the cat, so he just packed it up in the car and dumped it out here."**

"Nice."

"**Nice of him," Adam said. "A real animal lover. I suppose it would have been too much trouble to take the cat to the animal shelter where someone might have adopted it."**

"**Apparently," I said, "there isn't a whole lot of chance of anybody adopting this cat."**

"Yeah, Spike isn't the most attractive cat…"

**I cleared my throat. "It might be a good idea for us to call him by his name. Maybe he'd come then."**

"**Okay." Adam pulled up his chinos. "What's his name?"**

"**Um," I said. "Spike."**

"**Spike." Adam looked heavenwards. "A cat called Spike. This I can't wait to see. Here, Spike. Here Spikey, Spikey, Spikey..."**

"**Hey, you guys." Cee Cee came towards us waving her laptop in the air. **

**I'd enlisted Cee Cee's help as well as Adams's, only with a project of a different nature. All of my new friends, I'd discovered, had different talents and abilities. Adam's lay primarily in the fact that he owned a car, but Cee Cee's strengths lay in her superlative research skills...and what's more, in the fact that she actually liked looking stuff up. I'd asked her to look up what she could on Thaddeus Beaumont Senior, and she obliged. She'd been sitting in the car cruising the Net with the help of the remote modem she'd gotten for her birthday – have I mentioned that everyone in Carmel, with the exception of myself, is way rich? – **

"No, I just like to teach my children the value of hard work and earning things!"

**While Adam and I looked for Timothy's cat. **

"**Hey," Cee Cee said. "Get a load of this." She skimmed something she'd downloaded. "I ran the name Thaddeus Beaumont through the search engine, and came up with dozens of hits. Thaddeus Beaumont is listed as CEO, partner or investor in over thirty land-development projects – most of which, by the way, are commercial ventures, like cineplexes, strip malls or health clubs – on the Monterey peninsula alone."**

"Whoa..."

"That is a lot of money."

"Indeed it is."

"And to think my daughter could have married into this family…"

Jake and Brad snorted. They highly doubted Suze would marry Tad; she would have murdered him within a week out of boredom and then throw all the money away on some cause.

"**What does that mean?" Adam asked. **

"**It means that if you add up the number of acres owned by companies who list Thaddeus Beaumont as either an investor or a partner, he becomes roughly largest land owner in northern California."**

"**Wow," I said. I was thinking about the prom. I bet a guy who owned that much land could afford to rent his son as stretch limo for the night, Dorky, I know, but I'd always wanted to ride in one. **

"Is prom all she can think about?"

"It's important to teenage girls."

"But there's like fifty school dances a year,"

"Prom is special!"

"Whatever you say Mom…"

"**But he doesn't really own all that land," Adam pointed out. "The companies do."**

"**Exactly," Cee Cee said. **

"Exactly? What does she mean by exactly?" Andy asked concerned.

"**Exactly what do you mean by exactly?"**

"**Well," Cee Cee said. "Just that it might explain why it is that the guy hasn't been hauled into court for suspicion of murder."**

"WHAT?"

"**Murder?" Suddenly, I forgot all about prom. "What about a murder?"**

Helen groaned. "Why does this have to get even more complicated?"

"_**A**_** murder?" Cee Cee spun her laptop around so that we could see the screen. "We're talking multiple murders. Although technically, the victims have all been listed only as missing."**

"**What are you **_**talking**_** about?"**

Everyone leaned in to listen to Brad. Who, David couldn't help note, looked absorbed into the book. Something that was once impossible.

"**Well, after I made a list of all the companies affiliated with Thaddeus Beaumont, I entered each company name into that same search engine and came up with a couple of pretty disturbing things. Look here." Cee Cee had pulled up a map of the Carmel Valley. She highlighted the areas she was talking about as she mentioned them. "See this property here? Hotel and spa. See how close it is to the water? That was a no-building zone. Too much erosion. But RedCo – that's the name of the corporation that brought the land, RedCo, get it? – used some pull down at city hall and got a permit anyway. Still, this one environmentalist warned RedCo that any building they put up would not only be dangerously unstable, but would endanger the seal population that hangs out on the beach below it. Well, check this out."**

**Cee Cee's fingers flew over her keyboard. A second later, a picture of a weird-looking guy with a goatee filled the screen, along with what looked like a newspaper story. "The environmentalist who was making such a fuss over the seals disappeared four years ago, and no one has seen him since."**

**I squinted at the computer screen. It was so hard to see in the strong sunlight. "What do you mean, disappeared?" I asked. "Like he died?"**

"**Maybe. Nobody knows. His body was never found if he was killed," Cee Cee said. "But check this out." Her fingers did some quick rat-tat-tatting. "Another project, this strip mall here, was endangering the habitat of this rare kind of mouse, found only in this area. And this lady here-" Another photo came up on screen. "She tried to stop it and save the mouse, and poof. She disappeared too."**

"My god, it's like some sort of detective novel," Helen whispered.

"So cool!" Jake said. "Like mafia or something. Do you think Suze almost swam with the fishes?"

"Jake!" Andy hissed as Helen paled. "This is not a joke!"

"Sorry Dad, sorry Mom."

"**Disappeared," I echoed. "Just disappeared?"**

"**Just disappeared. Problem solved for Mount Beau – that was the name of that project's sponsor. Mount Beau. Beaumont. Get it?"**

"I'm sure they got it. Suze isn't an idiot and neither is Adam."

"**We get it," Adam said. "But if all these environmentalists connected with Red Beaumont's companies are disappearing, how come nobody has looked into it?"**

"Connections," Brad said wisely. He had spent many Friday nights watching these types of films with his brothers and father.

"**Well, for one thing," Cee Cee said, "Beaumont Industries made one of the biggest campaign donations in the state to out recently elected governor. They also made considerable contributions to the guy who was voted sheriff."**

"**A cover-up?" Adam made a face. "Come on."**

"I have to agree it is a little clichéd," David said.

"But it works. Corruption is everywhere."

"I swear this must be the wisest Brad has ever been," Jake said looking a little scared. "The world is about to end!"

Brad glared as his family chuckled. He was tempted to throw a cushion or the book at Jake but had a feeling he would be stuck in the corner for even longer if he did.

"**You're assuming anyone evens suspect anything. These people aren't dead, remember. Just gone. Near as I can tell, the attitude seems to be, well, environmentalists are kind of flighty anyway, so who's to say these folks didn't just take off for some bigger, more menacing disaster? All except this one." Cee Cee hit another button, and a third photo filled the page. "This lady didn't belong to any kooky save-the-seals group. She owned some land Beaumont Industries had its eyes on. They wanted to expand one of their cineplexes. Only she wouldn't sell."**

"**Don't tell me," I said. "She disappeared."**

"Duh."

"**Sure did. And seven years later to the day – seven years being the time after which you can legally declare a missing person dead – Beaumont Industries made an offer to her kids, who jumped on it."**

"That's terrible," Helen said. "I would be furious if Suze or one of you three did that."

"**Finks," I said, meaning the lady's kids. I leaned forwards so I could get a better looked at her picture. **

**And had quite a little shock: I was looking at a picture of the ghost who'd been paying me those charming social calls.**

"What? Seriously?" David cried out, "A woman who had been murdered by a man for her land would not say 'tell him he didn't kill me', she would be out for revenge and justice!"

Jake looked at David warily. "A little too passionate about this, aren't you?"

David blushed. "I think Suze is going the wrong way about this," he muttered.

**Okay, well, maybe she didn't look **_**exactly**_** the same.**

David rolled his eyes. Of course Suze was capable of making mistakes, but this was getting a little ridiculous. Or maybe he was being a little biased because this was his mother with an important message to him… And Suze was getting herself involved in something else all together. Which meant she was missing the objective of her mission.

**But she was white and skinny and had the same haircut. There was certainly enough of a resemblance to make me go, "That's her!" and point. **

Brad faced palm while Helen groaned. "_Idiot_! She could have kept her mouth shut," Brad muttered.

**Which was, of course, the worst thing I could have done. Because both Cee Cee and Adam turned to look at me. **

"**That's her who?" Adam wanted to know. **

**And Cee Cee said, "Suze, you can't possibly know her. She disappeared over seven years ago, and you just moved here last month."**

**I am such a loser. **

"Yes you are."

"Two entries worth of the corner Bradley!"

"Damnit!"

**I couldn't even think of a good excuse either, I just repeated the one I'd stammered to Tad's father. "Oh, um, I had this dream and she was in it."**

**What was **_**wrong**_** with me?**

"I co-"

"Brad, shut up before you end up with three entries worth of the corner" Jake interrupted.

**I had not, of course, explained to Cee Cee the reason why I'd wanted her to look up stuff on Red Beaumont, any more than I had told Adam how it was that I knew so much about little Timothy Mahern's cat. I had merely mentioned that Mr. Beaumont had said something odd during my brief meeting with him the night before. And that Father Dom had sent me to look for the cat, presumably because Timothy's dad had admitted abandoning it during his weekly confession – only Father Dom, being sworn to secrecy, couldn't actually **_**tell**_** me that. I was only, I assured Adam, **_**surmising...**_

"So that's how she got her excuse from," Andy muttered.

"**A dream?" Adam echoed. "About some lady who's been dead for seven years? That's weird."**

"Very weird but what's worse is that you're believing her," Helen said shaking her head.

"**It probably wasn't her," I said quickly, backpedalling for all I was worth. "In fact, I'm sure it wasn't her. The woman I saw was much...taller." **

Everyone groaned at Suze's momentary stupidity.

**Like I could even tell how tall this woman was by looking at her picture somebody had posted on the Internet.**

**Adam said, "You know, Cee Cee has an aunt who dreams about dead people all the time. They visit her, she says."**

"Isn't that the psychic who's dating Mr. Walden?" Brad asked. "You know, the hotter version of the al- I mean Suze's friend?"

"I think so," David said.

**I threw Cee Cee a startled glance. Could we, I wondered be talking about **_**another**_** mediator? **

"Seriously? Is Carmel now some sort of mediator retirement spot as well for ordinary people?"

"Jake, Suze and Father Dominic are ordinary. Everyone has their own unique traits."

"Whatever you say Dave but you got to admit that neither of them is normal!"

**What was there some kind of glut of us in the greater peninsula area? I knew Carmel was a popular retirement spot, but this was getting ridiculous. **

Everyone snorted their agreement with this.

"**She doesn't have dreams about them," Cee Cee said, and I didn't think I was imagining the level of disgust in her voice. "Aunt Pru summons the spirits of the dead and she'll tell you what they said. For a small fee."**

"A charlatan or maybe the real deal using their skills for money like that Madame Zara,"

"**Aunt **_**Pru**_**?" I grinned. "Wow, Cee Cee. I didn't know you had a psychic in the family."**

"**She isn't a psychic." Cee Cee's disgust deepened. "She's a complete flake. I'm embarrassed to be related to her. Talk to the dead. Right!"**

"Ooh, someone sounds bitter," Brad grinned. "Don't hold back, Webb. Tell us how you really feel!"

"It's not funny Brad," Helen frowned, "This was what Suze expected my reaction to be."

A problem that Helen planned to resolve as soon as she finished these diaries.

"**Don't hold back, Cee Cee," I said. "Let us know how you really feel."**

Brad was disgusted that he had said something similar to Suze.

"**Well," Cee Cee said. "I'm sorry. But-"**

"**Hey," Adam interrupted brightly. "Maybe Aunt Pru could help yell us why-" he bent down for a closer look at the dead woman's photo on Cee Cee's computer screen – "Mrs Dierdre Fiske here is popping up in Suze's dreams."**

**Horrified, I leaned forwards and slammed Cee Cee's laptop closed. "No thanks," I said. **

**Cee Cee, opening her computer back up again, said irritably, "Nobody fondles the electronics but me, Simon."**

"**Aw, come on," Adam said. "It'll be fun. Suze's never met Pru. She'll get a big kick out of her. She's a riot."**

**Cee Cee muttered, "Yeah, you know how funny the mentally ill can be."**

**I said, hoping to get the subject back on track, "Um, maybe some other time. Anything else, Cee Cee that you were able to dig up on Mr. Beaumont?"**

"**You mean other than the fact that he might possibly be killing anyone who stands in the way of his amassing a fortune by raping our forests and beaches?" Cee Cee, who was wearing a khaki rain hat to protect her sensitive skin from the sun, as well as her violet-lensed sunglasses, looked up at me. "You're not satisfied yet, Simon? Haven't we thoroughly vetted your paramour's closest relations?"**

"Well you know, his grandmother might be a witch and his uncle might be a werewolf and Tad might be the only normal one… or maybe he's into satanic rituals," Brad said lightly. Everyone to laughed instead of scolding him for once.

"**Yeah," Adam said. "It must be reassuring to know that last night you hooked up with a guy who comes from such a nice stable family, Suze,"**

"**Hey," I said with an indignation I was far from feeling. "There's no **_**proof**_** Tad's dad is the one who's responsible for these environmentalists' disappearances. And besides, we just had coffee, okay? We did not hook up."**

"They went on a date," Brad said confused.

"Yes but they didn't go any further than an interrupted French kiss," Helen explained patiently, "In New York sexual intercourse is known as 'hooked up'."

"Ah..."

**Cee Cee blinked at me. "You went out with him, Suze. That's all Adam meant by hooking up."**

"**Oh." Where I come from, hooking up means something else entirely. "Sorry. I-"**

**At that moment, Adam let out a shout. "Spike!"**

"The monster makes his appearance," Brad muttered. There was no love lost between him and Suze's pet.

**I whirled around, following his pointing finger. There peering out from the dry underbrush, sat the biggest, meanest-looking cat I'd ever seen. He was the same colour yellow as the grass, which was probably how we'd missed him. He had orange stripes, one chewed-off ear and an extremely nasty look on his face.**

"So he matches Suze's personality wonderfully!"

"Brad, be nice" Andy said tiredly.

"**Spike?" I asked softly. **

**The cat turned his head in my direction and glared at me malevolently. **

"**Oh, my God," I said. "No wonder Tim's dad didn't take him to the animal shelter."**

**It took some doing – and the ultimate sacrifice of my Kate Spade book bag, which I'd manage to purchase only at great physical risk at a sample sale back in SoHo – but we finally managed to capture Spike. Once he was zipped up inside my bag, he seemed to resign himself to captivity although throughout the ride to Safeway, where we went to stock up on litter and food for him, I could hear him working industriously on the bag's lining with his claws. Timothy, I decided, owed me big time. **

The boys rolled their eyes. "Just a bag," Jake muttered, "Doesn't affect world peace or anything…"

Helen however added to the list to replace Suze's Kate Spade book bag. Or at least give Suze a refund so to speak for the bag she had to buy out of her own money when Helen had earlier refused to pay for.

**Especially when Adam, instead of turning up the street to my house, turned in the opposite direction, heading further up the Carmel hills until the big red dome covering the basilica of the Mission below us was the size of my thumbnail. **

"**No," Cee Cee immediately said as firmly as I've ever heard her say anything. "Absolutely not. Turn the car around. Turn the car around **_**now**_**."**

"Uh oh, someone's gonna be in trouble," Brad said in a sing song voice.

**Only Adam, chuckling diabolically, just sped up. **

Brad rolled his eyes. He never liked Adam - who just kept proving what an idiot and whipped guy he was.

**Holding my Kate Spade bag on my lap, I said, "Uh, Adam. I don't know where, exactly, you think you're going, but I'd really like to at least get rid of this, um, animal first-"**

"**Just for a minute," Adam said. "The cat'll be all right. Come **_**on**_**, Cee. Stop being such a spoilsport."**

"Honestly! This woman is not some sort of entertainment; she's a woman who is one of his friend's relatives. A friend who does not want to see this relative because it upsets her. I've never been this disappointed in Adam before!" Helen fumed at the insensitivity of Suze's friend.

**Cee Cee was madder than I'd ever seen her. "I said **_**no**_**!" she shouted.**

**But it was too late. Adam pulled up in front of a little stucco bungalow that had wind chimes hanging all over the place tinkling in the breeze from the bay, and giant hibiscus blossoms turned up towards the late afternoon sun. He put his VW in park and switched off the ignition. **

"**We'll just pop in to say hi," he said to Cee Cee. And then he unfastened his seat belt and hopped out of the car.**

**Cee Cee and I didn't move. She was in the back seat. I was in the front with the cat. From my bag came an ominous rumbling. **

"**I hesitate to ask," I said, after a while of sitting there listening to the wind chimes and Spike's steady growling. "But where are we?"**

**That question was answered when, a second later, the door to the bungalow burst open and a woman whose hair was the same whitish yellow as Cee Cee's – only so long that she could sit on it – yoo-hooed at us. **

"Yoo-hooed?"

"**Come in," Cee Cee's aunt Pru called. "Please come in! I've been expecting you!"**

**Cee Cee, not even glancing in her aunt's direction, muttered, "I just bet you have, you psychic freak."**

"Oh that's nice," David muttered sarcastically.

**Remind me never to tell Cee Cee about the whole mediator thing. **

"Corner, Brad," Andy ordered as David took the book. "No arguments!" he continued as Brad tried to open his mouth. "You were rude and inconsiderate. Much like this Adam fellow." Brad looked horrified to be compared to someone as unpopular as Adam. "Now I want you to sit there until it's your mother's turn to read, got it?"

"Yes Dad," he mumbled as he shifted into the corner and turned round to face the wall.

He only thanked God that his father hadn't decided to be more humiliating and spank him in front of his brothers.

They would never let him live it down.


	11. Chapter 11

"**Oh, goodness," Cee Cee's aunt Pru said. "There it is again. The ninth key. This is just so strange."**

**Cee Cee and I exchanged glances. Strange wasn't quite the word for it.**

"It was probably bad shuffling or a con," Andy said.

"I don't think they paid for this Dad." David pointed out.

"Bad shuffling then."

**Not that it was unpleasant. Far from it. At least, in my opinion anyway. Pru Webb, Cee Cee's aunt, was a little odd. That was certainly true. **

**But her house was very aromatic what with all the scented candles she kept lit everywhere. And she'd been quite the attentive hostess, giving us each a glass of home-made lemonade. It was too bad; of course, that she'd forgotten to put sugar in it, but that kind of forgetfulness apparently wasn't unusual for someone in touch with the spirit world. **

"She better not use that as an excuse to get out of dishes or homework!"

"It does explain a bit about Father Dom though…" Jake mused.

"Jake, no offense to Father Dominic but he is an old man and is bound to forget something once in a while."

**Aunt Pru had informed us that her mentor, the most powerful psychic on the West Coast, often couldn't remember his own name because he was channeling so many other souls. **

**Still, our little visit hadn't been particularly enlightening so far. I had lead learned, for instance, that according to the lines in my palm, I am going to grow up to have a challenging job in the field of medical research (Yeah! That'll be the day). Cee Cee, meanwhile, is going to be a movie star and Adam an astronaut.**

Everyone snorted. The idea of Cee Cee being a movie star was difficult to imagine, the girl was more likely to be an astronaut with her brain than an actress.

**Seriously. An **_**astronaut**_**. **

**I was, I admit, a little jealous of their future careers, which were clearly a great deal more exciting than my own, but I tried hard to control my envy.**

"Or her disbelief," Helen muttered.

**What I'd given up trying to control – and Cee Cee apparently had as well – was Adam. **

"Really? I always had the impression that both girls had that boy firmly under their thumb."

**He had told Aunt Pru, before I could stop him, about my 'dream', and now the poor woman was trying – pro bono, mind you – to summon Deirdre Fiske's spirit using tarot cards and a lot of humming.**

**Only it did not appear to be working because every time she started to turn the cards over, she kept coming up with the same one.**

**The ninth key.**

"Hmm...I'm going to have to start researching tarot cards and the folklore surrounding it," David murmured to himself. "I wonder if it's possible for psychic energy to interfere with the cards..."

"Just as long you don't blow the house up with these experiments," Andy said firmly.

**This was, apparently, upsetting to her. shaking her head, Aunt Pru – that's what she told me to call her – scooped all the cards back into a pile, shuffled them, and then, closing her eyes pulled one from the middle of the deck, and laid it, face up, for us to see. **

**Then she opened her eyes, looked down at it and went, "Again! This doesn't make any sense."**

**She wasn't kidding. The idea of anyone summoning a ghost with a deck of cards make no sense whatsoever...to me at least. I couldn't even summon them by standing there screaming their names – something I'd tried, believe me – and I'm a mediator. My **_**job**_** is to communicate with the undead. **

**But ghosts aren't dogs. They don't come if you call them. Take my dad for instance. How many times had I wanted - even needed – him? He'd shown up all right: three, four weeks later. Ghosts are way irresponsible for the most part. **

"Or maybe time moves differently for them? Or sound travels in a different speed in the spiritual world? I'll have to ask Jesse..."

**But I couldn't exactly explain to Cee Cee's aunt that what she was doing was a huge waste of time...and that while she was sitting there doing it, there was a cat trying to eat his way out of my book bag in Adam's car.**

**Oh, and that a guy who might or might not have been a vampire – but was certainly responsible for the disappearances of quite a number of people – was running around loose. I could only just sit there with this big stupid smile on my face, pretending to be enjoying myself, while really I was itching to get home and on the phone with Father D, so we could figure out what we were going to do about Red Beaumont.**

Helen sighed. "It's nice to know that Suze has at least one adult that she looks up to and asks for help."

"**Oh, dear," Aunt Pru said. She was very pretty, Cee Cee's aunt Pru. An albino like her niece, her eyes were the colour of violets. She wore a flowing sundress of the same shade. The contrast her long white hair made against the purple of her dress was startling – and cool. Cee Cee, I knew, was probably going to look just like her aunt Pru someday, once she got rid of the braces and puppy fat, that is. **

"So she's probably worried that she'll end up like Pru mentally."

**Which was probably why Cee Cee couldn't stand her.**

"**What can this mean?" Aunt Pru muttered to herself. "The hermit. The hermit."**

**There appeared, from what I could see, to be a hermit on the card Aunt Pru kept turning over and over. **

"There's an actual crab on one of these cards?" Jake asked.

"No, I think they mean old-man-living-alone type of hermit," David said.

**Not of the crab variety either, but the old-man-living-in-a-cave type. I didn't know what a hermit had to do with Mrs. Fiske either, but one thing I did know: I was bored stupid. **

"**One more time," Aunt Pru said, sending a cautious glance in Cee Cee's direction. **

"Wants her nieces' approval!"

**Cee Cee had made it clear that we didn't have all day. I was the one who needed to get home most, of course. I had an Ackerman dinner to contend with. Kung pao chicken night. If it was late, my mom was going to kill me. **

"No. Mom wouldn't mind, Dad however _would_."

"**Um," I said. "Ms Webb?"**

"**Aunt Pru, darling,"**

"**Right. Aunt Pru. May I use your phone?"**

"**Of course." Aunt Pru didn't even glance at me. She was too busy channeling. **

**I wandered out of the darkened room and went out into the hallway. There was an old-fashioned rotary phone on a little table there. I dialed my own number - after a brief struggle to remember it since I'd only had it for a few weeks – and when Dopey picked up, I asked him to tell my mother that I hadn't forgotten about dinner and was on my way home. **

**Dopey not very graciously informed me that he was on the other line and that because he was not my social secretary, and had no intention of taking any messages for me, I should call back later. **

Andy turned a steely glare at Brad's back. "We shall have a very long talk on phone manners once we finish these books," he said softly.

Brad gulped.

"**Who are you talking to?" I asked. "Debbie, your love slave?"**

Jake and David laughed while Andy decided that he'd speak to Suze about her teasing.

**Dopey responded by hanging up on me. Some people have no sense of humour. **

**I put down the receiver and was standing there looking at this zodiac calendar and wondering if I was in some kind of celestial good-luck zone – considering what had happened with Tad and all – when someone standing right beside me said, in an irritated voice, "Well? What do you want?"**

"A ghost?"

"Or Cee Cee's bad mood has affected Pru and Adam."

**I jumped nearly a foot. I swear; I've been doing this all my life, but I just can't get used to it. I would so rather have some other secret power – like the ability to do long division in my head – than this mediator crap I swear. **

Jake looked thoughtful. "That would be interesting."

"What would?"

"Suze being the geek and David being the mediator."

**I spun around, and there she was, standing in Aunt Pru's entranceway, looking cranky in a gardening hat and gloves.**

**She was not the same woman who'd been waking me up at night. They were similar body types, little and slender, with the same pixyish haircut, but this woman was easily in her sixties. **

"**Well?" she eyed me. "I don't have all day. What did you call me for?"**

**I stared at the woman in wonder. The truth was, I hadn't called her. I hadn't done anything, except stand there and wonder if Tad was still going to like me when Mercury retrograded into Aquarius.**

Everyone rolled their eyes.

"**Mrs. Fiske?" I whispered. **

"**Yes, that's me." the old lady looked me up and down. "You **_**are**_** the one who called me, aren't you?"**

"**Um." I glanced back towards the room where I could still hear Aunt Pru saying, apparently to herself, since neither Cee Cee nor Adam could have understood what she was talking about, "But the ninth key has no **_**bearing**_**..."**

"I doubt Aunt Pru summoned Mrs. Fiske"

**I turned back to Mrs. Fiske. "I guess so," I said. **

**Mrs. Fiske looked me up and down. It was clear she didn't much like what she was seeing. "Well?" she said. "What is it?"**

**Where to begin? Here was a woman who'd disappeared, and been presumed dead, for almost half as long as I'd been alive. I glanced back at Aunt Pru and the others, just to make sure they weren't looking in my direction, and then whispered, "I just need to know, Mrs. Fiske...Mr. Beaumont. He killed you, didn't he?"**

**Mrs Fiske suddenly stopped looking so crabby.**

"She thinks justice will be served!"

**Her eyes, which were very blue, fixed on mine. She said, in a shocked voice, "My God. My God, finally...someone knows. Someone finally knows."**

**I reached out to lay a reassuring hand upon her arm. "Yes, Mrs. Fiske," I said. "I know. And I'm going to stop him from hurting anybody else."**

**Mrs. Fiske shrugged my hand off and blinked at me. "**_**You**_**?" she still looked stunned, but now in a different way. **

**I realized how when she burst out laughing. **

"Suze isn't going to like that!"

"_**You're **_**going to stop him?" she cackled. "You're...you're a baby!"**

"_Definitely_ not going to like that."

"**I'm no baby," I assured her. "I'm a mediator."**

Jake blinked. "She took it better than I thought."

"**A mediator?" to my surprise, Mrs Fiske threw back her head and laughed harder. "A mediator. Oh, well, that makes it all better; doesn't it?"**

**I wanted to tell her I didn't really care for her tones, **

"Ah, now _that_ sounds more like the Suze we all know and love!"

Brad snorted but everyone ignored him.

**But Mrs. Fiske didn't give me a chance. **

"**And you think you can stop Beaumont?" she demanded. "Honey, you've got a lot to learn."**

**I didn't think this was very polite. I said, "Look, lady, I may be young, but I know what I'm doing. Now, just tell me where he hid your body and-"**

"Suze obviously never watched those mafia movies. They never hide the body, they make it disappear forever."

"**Are you insane?" Mrs. Fiske finally stopped laughing. Now she shook her head. "There's nothing left of me. Beaumont's no amateur, you know. He made sure there weren't any mistakes. And there weren't. You won't find a scrap of evidence to implicate him. Believe me. The guy's a monster. A real bloodsucker." **

"Oh God!" Helen moaned. "My baby faced a vampire all by herself!"

**Then her mouth hardened. "Though no worse, I suppose, than my own kids. Selling my land to that leech! Listen, you. You're a mediator. Give my kids this message for me: tell them I hope they burn in-"**

"Sounds like a message Grandma would give to us," Jake muttered.

"**Hey, Suze." Cee Cee suddenly appeared in the hallway. "The witch has given up. She has to consult her guru, 'cause she keeps coming up bust."**

**I threw a frantic look at Mrs. Fiske. Wait! I still hadn't had a chance to ask her how she'd died! Was Red Beaumont really a vampire? Had he sucked all the life out of her? Did she mean he was **_**literally**_** a bloodsucking leech?**

"What else could she have meant? Humans don't go around sucking blood out of the fun of it!"

**But it was too late. Cee Cee, still coming towards me, walked right through what looked – and felt – to me like a little old lady in a gardening hat and gloves. And this little old lady shimmered indignantly. **

**Don't, I wanted to scream. Don't go!**

"**Ew," Cee Cee said with a little shudder as she threw off the last of Mrs Fiske's clinging aura.**

"You know, that's happened to me many times before" Jake said. "Usually at school or sometimes here. Once in the mall. Do you think I walked into ghosts all those times?"

"Yes," David said, "I found that's one of the effects of being haunted. They leave cold spots but then you never believed me before did you?"

"I said I was sorry!"

"**Come on. Let's get out of here. This place gives me the creeps."**

**I never did find out what Mrs. Fiske's message to her kids was – though I had a bit of an idea. The old lady, with a last disgusted look at me, disappeared. **

**Just as Aunt Pru came into the hallway, looking apologetic. **

"**I'm so sorry, Suzie," she said.**

Jake snickered. "Doesn't she know that only Mom can call Suze that?"

"**I really tried, but the Santa Anas have been particularly strong this year, and so there's been a lot of interference in the spiritual pathways I normally utilize." **

**Maybe that explained how I had managed to summon the spirit of Mrs. Fiske. Could I do it again, I wondered, and this time remember to ask exactly how Red Beaumont had killed her?**

**Adam, as we headed back towards his car, looked immensely pleased with himself.**

Brad snorted and muttered something under his breath. Again no one paid him any attention.

"**Well, Suze?" he said, as he held open the passenger side door for Cee Cee and me. "You ever in your life met anybody like that?"**

**I had, of course. Being a magnet for the souls of the unhappily dead, I'd met people from all walks of life, including an Incan priestess, several witch doctors, and even a Pilgrim who'd been burned at the stake as a witch.**

Helen moaned quietly to herself. What other weird people has her daughter bumped into? Murderers, rapists, child molesters...the list could go on. Some of these ghosts could be dangerous.

**But since it seemed so important to him, I smiled and said, "Not exactly," which was the truth, in a way. **

**Cee Cee didn't look too thrilled with the fact that one of her family members had managed to provide the boy she – let's face it – had a huge crush on with so much entertainment. She crawled into the back seat and glowered there. Cee Cee was a straight-A student who didn't believe in anything that couldn't be proved scientifically, especially anything to do with the hereafter...which made the fact that her parents had stuck her in Catholic school a bit problematic. **

"And gave us some great entertainment," Jake said remembering some of the battles Cee Cee had with the nuns.

**More problematic to me, however, than Cee Cee's lack of faith or my newfound ability to summon spirits at will was what I was going to do with this cat. While we'd been inside Aunt Pru's house, he'd managed to chew a hole through one corner of my bag, and now he kept poking one paw through it, swiping blindly with claws fully outstretched at whatever came his way – primarily me, since I was the one holding the bag. Adam, no matter how hard I wheedled, wouldn't take the cat home with him, and Cee Cee just laughed when I asked her. I knew there was no way I was going to talk Father Dominic into taking Spike to live in the rectory: Sister Ernestine would never allow it. **

"Even more reason to give Spike to Father Dominic."

**Which left me only one alternative. And I really, really wasn't happy about it. besides what the cat had done to the inside of my bag – God only knew what he'd do to my room – there was the fact that I was pretty sure felines were verboten in the Ackerman household due to Dopey's delicate sensitivity to their dander.**

"And she still got to keep that monster!"

"I don't hear silence Bradley. And it was agreed, since the cat litter was in Suze's bathroom and you'll never set foot in there, that it was fine to keep the cat"

**So I still had the stupid cat, plus a Safeway bag containing a litter box, the litter itself, and about twenty cans of Fancy Feast, when Adam pulled up to my house to drop me off.**

"**Hey," he said appreciatively, as I struggled to get out of the car. "Who's visiting you guys? The Pope?"**

"Only if David proved God's existence scientifically,"

**I looked where he was pointing...and then my jaw dropped. **

**Parked in our driveway was a big, black stretch limo, just like the kind I'd fantasized about going to the prom with Tad in! **

"Urgh!"

"**Uh," I said, slamming the door to Adam's VW shut. "I'll see you guys."**

**I hurried up the driveway, with Spike, determined not to be forgotten just because he'd been zipped into a book bag, growling and spitting the whole way. As I was coming up the front steps to the porch, I heard the rumble of voices coming from the living room. **

**And when I stepped through the front door, and I saw who those voices belonged to...well, Spike came pretty close to becoming a kitty pancake, I squeezed that bag so tight to my chest. **

**Because sitting there chatting amiably with my mother and holding a cup of tear was none other than Thaddeus 'Red' Beaumont. **

"Oh dear, that must have terrified her," Helen said sadly.

"Don't worry honey; I'm sure Suze resolved her problems with Mr. Beaumont. Remember she did save his life before they moved."

"You know, I'm just starting to wonder if Suze was the reason they moved in the first place" Jake said. "I have a feeling they had to cover up something… whether or not it is more murders."

Helen groaned.

_Author's Note: I agree with what Jake said, it would be interesting if David was the mediator and Suze the genius. When I have some time and this is finished I'll do an oneshot based on it, I'm considering the title to be The Ability to do Long-Division. But it might change by the time I write it. _


	12. Chapter 12

_Author's Note: I like to dedicate this to my Beta, who I unfortunately had to drop since she's a little too busy to do her stuff. I thank her for all the hard work she put in for the first ten chapters in this but now I'm going to continue this on my own. I would like to ask people to stop PM-ing me about updates, I'm a First Year student at Uni and have my hands full doing work. Please just be patient and enjoy the updates I can give _

"**Oh, Suzie," my mom said, turning around as I came into the house. "Hello, honey. Look who stopped by to see you. Mr Beaumont and his son."**

**It was only then that I noticed Tad was there too. He was standing by the wall that had all of our family photos on it – which weren't many since we'd only been a family for a few weeks. Mostly they were just school photos of me and my stepbrothers, and pictures from Andy and my mom's wedding. **

"Very embarrassing school photos" Jake murmured glaring at his on the wall. David nodded, his ears turning a noticeable red as he stared at his own.

**Tad grinned at me, then pointed at a photo of me at the age of ten – in which I was missing both of my front teeth – and said, "Nice smile."**

Jake snickered.

**I managed to give me a reasonable facsimile of that smile, minus the missing teeth. "Hi," I said. **

"I'd be a bit worried if her teeth were still missing" Andy laughed.

"**Tad and Mr Beaumont were on their way home," my mom said, "and they thought they'd stop by and see if you'd have dinner with them tonight. I told them I didn't think you had any other plans. You don't, do you, Suze?"**

Helen groaned. She can't believe she allowed her daughter to have dinner with a very probable murderer. She was such a bad mother.

**My mom, I could tell, was practically frothing at the mouth at the idea of me having dinner with this guy and his kid. My mom would have frothed at the mouth at the idea of me having dinner with Darth Vader and his kid, that's how hot she was to get me a boyfriend. All my mom has ever wanted is for me to be a normal teenage girl. **

"I can't believe how much pressure I must have put her under" Helen whispered to Andy. He didn't say anything in return just gave her hand a much needed comforting squeeze.

**But if she thought Red Beaumont was prime in-law material, boy was she barking up the wrong tree.**

**And speaking of barking, I had suddenly become an object of considerable interest to Max, who started sniffing around my book bag and whining. **

"**Um," I said. "Would you mind if I just ran upstairs and, um, dumped my stuff off?"**

"**Not at all," Mr Beaumont said. "Not at all. Take your time. I was just telling your mother about your article. The one you're doing for the school paper."**

"**Yes, Suzie," my mom said, turning around in her seat with this huge smile. "You never told me you were working for the school paper. How exciting!" **

"You are so gullible!" Jake cried out.

"So are you" Helen shot back. "You have to admit it sounded realistic"

**I looked at Mr Beaumont. He smiled blandly back at me.**

**And suddenly, I had a very bad feeling. **

Helen paled.

**Oh, not that Mr Beaumont was going to get up, come over, and bite me on the neck. Not that. **

A sigh of relief could be heard.

**But all of a sudden, I got this very bad feeling that he was going to tell my mother the real reason I'd gone to visit him the night before. Not the newspaper article thing, but the thing about my dream. **

**Which my mom would instantly suspect was you-know-what. If she heard I'd been going around feeding wealthy real estate tycoons lines about psychic dreams, I'd be grounded from here until graduation.**

"True but I have a feeling I'll be the one enforcing it" Andy said with a tinge of an evil grin. "No offense honey but you're not really cut out at punishing the kids"

"None taken. This way I'm the favourite" Helen said cheekily causing the boys to laugh.

**And the worst part of it was, considering how much trouble I used to be in all the time back in New York, I wasn't at all eager to let my mom in on the fact that I was actually up to even **_**more**_** stuff on **_**this**_** side of the country. I mean, she really had no clue. She thought all of it – the fact that I'd constantly missed my curfew, my run-ins with the police, my suspensions, the bad grades – were behind us, over, kaput, the end. We were on a new coast, making a new start. **

**And my mom was just so **_**happy**_** about it. **

**So I said, "Oh, yeah, the **_**article**_** I'm doing," and gave Mr Beaumont a meaningful look. At least I hoped it would be meaningful. And I hoped what it meant to him was: don't spill the beans, buster, or you'll pay for it big time. **

Jake snorted. "I'm sure he was trembling in fear"

**Though I'm not certain how scared a guy like Red Beaumont would actually be of a sixteen-year-old girl.**

**He wasn't. He sent a look right back at me. A look that said, if I wasn't mistaken: I won't spill the beans, sister, if you play along like a good little girl. **

"I doubt someone like that would even think like _that_"

**I nodded to let him know I'd gotten the message, whirled around, and hurried up the stairs. **

**Well, I figured as I went, Max loping at my heels, still trying to get a gander into my bag, at least Tad was with him. Mr Beaumont certainly wasn't going to be able to bite me on the neck with his own kid in the room. Tad, I was pretty sure, wasn't a vampire. And he didn't seem like the kind of guy who'd just stand by and let his dad kill his date.**

"He probably doesn't know. He seems to be the clueless type"

**And with any luck that guy Marcus would be there. Marcus certainly wouldn't allow his employer to sink his fangs in me. **

**I wasn't too surprise when, as we reached the door to my bedroom, Max suddenly turned tail and, with a yelp, ran in the opposite direction. He wasn't to thrilled by Jesse's presence. **

"But Spike doesn't seem to mind since he spends most of his time either in Suze's room or outside"

**Neither, I figured, was Spike going to be. But Spike didn't have any other choice. **

"Ah...maybe he just comes back because Suze is holding his food captive"

**I went into my room and took the little box out of my giant Safeway bag and shoved it under the sink in my bathroom, then filled it with litter. In the centre of my room where I'd left my book bag came some pretty unearthly howling. The paw kept shooting out of the hole Spike had chewed, and feeling around for something to claw. **

"**I'm going as fast as I can," I grumbled as I poured some water into a bowl then opened a can of food and left it on a plate on the floor with the water. **

**Then, making sure I unzipped it away from me, I opened the bag. **

**Spike came tearing out like...well; more like the Tasmanian Devil than any cat I'd ever seen. He was completely out of control. He tore around the room three times before he spotted the food, skidded suddenly to a halt, and began to suck it down. **

"**What," I heard Jesse say, "is **_**that**_**?"**

Andy winced. "This is going to be awkward"

"Why do you say that?" Helen frowned.

"First time they've been together since their fight"

"Oh yes, very awkward"

**I looked up. I hadn't seen Jesse since our fight the night before. He was leaning against one of my bed-posts – my mom had gone whole hog when she'd decorated my room, going for frilly dressing table, canopy bed, the works – looking down at the cat like it was some kind of alien life form. **

"I think Jesse is too fascinated in the cat to care" Jake snorted.

"**It's a cat," I said. "I didn't have any choice. It's just until I find a home for it."**

**Jesse eyed Spike dubiously. "Are you sure it's a cat? It doesn't look like any cat I've ever seen. It looks more like...what do they call them? Those small horses. Oh yes, a pony."**

Everyone laughed. "I think I would have noticed if Suze brought home a pony" Andy chortled.

"**I'm sure it's a cat," I said. "Listen, Jesse, I'm kind of in a jam here."**

**He nodded at Spike. "I can see that."**

"**Not about the cat," I said, quickly. "It's about Tad."**

**Jesse's expression, which had been fairly pleasant, teasing one, suddenly darkened. If I hadn't been sure he didn't give a hang about me aside from as a friend, I'd have sworn he was jealous. **

"He is"

"**He's downstairs," I said quickly, before Jesse could start yelling at me again for being too easy on a first date. **

"I'm sure Jesse wouldn't mind you being easy on the first date. Just as long as that first date is with him"

"Jake, please stop encouraging your sister to have sexual relations with her boyfriend"

"I'm not _encouraging_," Jake spat out, "I'm just making a point. If Jesse has touched Suze in that way then I'll tear his fingers off"

"Jake! Andy you're not seriously going to encourage Jake to be violent towards Jesse are you?"

"Err...of course not dear"

"**With his father. They want me to come over for dinner. And I'm not going to be able to get out of it."**

**Jesse muttered some stuff in Spanish. Judging from the look on his face, whatever he said hadn't exactly been an expression of regret that he, too, had not been invited. **

"I doubt he'd care"

"**The thing is," I went on, "I've found out some things about Mr Beaumont, things that kind of make me...well, nervous. So could you, um, do me a favour?"**

**Jesse straightened. He seemed pretty surprised. I don't really ask me him to do me favours all that often. **

"Stubborn," Helen muttered, "just like her father"

"**Of course, **_**querida**_**," he said, and my heart gave a little flip-flop inside my chest at the caressing tone he always gave that word. I didn't even know what it meant. **

"Urgh" the boys groaned.

**Why am I so **_**pathetic**_**?**

"Well-"

"Brad, corner time means silent time"

"**Look," I said, my voice squeakier than ever, unfortunately, "if I'm not back by midnight, can you just let Father Dominic know that he should probably call the police?"**

"Oh god..." Helen whispered.

**As I'd been speaking, I'd taken out a new bag, a Kate Spade knock-off, and I was slipping the stuff I normally use for ghost-busting into it. You know, my flashlight, pliers, gloves, the roll of dimes I keep in my fist ever since my mom found and confiscated my brass knuckles,**

"Remind me to confiscate those dimes" Helen murmured to Andy who immediately put it down on the list.

**Pepper spray, bowie knife, **

"And the knife"

**And, oh, yeah, a pencil. It was the best I could come up with in lieu of a wooden stake. I don't believe in vampire, but I do believe in being prepared. **

"A pencil? A pencil? How on earth will that save my little girls life?"

"It's made out of wood" David said reassuringly.

"**You want **_**me **_**to speak to the priest?"**

**Jesse sounded shocked. I guess I couldn't blame him. While I'd never exactly forbidden him from speaking to Father Dom, I'd never actually encouraged him either. I certainly hadn't told him why I was so reluctant for the two of them to meet – Father D was sure to have an embolism over the living arrangements – but I hadn't exactly given him the all clear to go strolling into Father Dominic's office. **

"Poor Father D. He probably aged more since Suze came into his life"

"**Yes," I said. "I do."**

**Jesse looked confused. "But, Susannah," he said. "If he's this dangerous, this man, why are you-"**

**Someone tapped on my bedroom door. "Suzie?" my mom called. "You decent?"**

**I grabbed my bag. "Yeah, Mom," I said. I threw Jesse one last, pleading look, and then I hurried from the room, careful not to let out Spike, who'd finished his meal and was doing some pretty serious nosing around for more food. **

"Sounds like three boys I know very well" Andy said looking down at his sons.

**In the hallway, my mother looked at me curiously. "Is everything all right, Suzie?" she asked me. "You were up here for so long..."**

"**Uh, yeah," I said. "Listen, Mom-"**

"**Suzie, I didn't know things were so serious with this boy." My mom took my arm and started steering me back down the stairs. "He's so handsome! And so sweet! It's just so adorable, his wanting you to have dinner with him and his father."**

"Well he was!" Helen said defensively at the scathing looks from Jake and Andy. "Remember it's the father who was the nutter"

**I wondered how sweet she'd have thought it if she'd known about Mrs Fiske. My mom had been a television new journalist for over twenty years. She'd won a couple of national awards for some of her investigations, and when she'd first started looking for a job on the West Coast, she'd pretty much had her pick of news stations. **

Helen blushed lightly. It wasn't exactly her own pick but it was nice to know that her daughter thought so highly of her.

**And a sixteen-year-old albino with a laptop and a modem knew a heck of a lot more about Red Beaumont than she did. **

**It just goes to show that people only know what they want to. **

"That's very wise of Suze" David said.

"**Yeah," I said. "About Mr Beaumont, Mom. I don't think I really-"**

"**And what's all this about you writing a story for the school paper? Suze, I didn't know you were interested in journalism."**

**My mom looked almost as happy as she had the day she and Andy had finally tied the knot. And considering that that was about as happy as I'd ever seen her – since my dad had died anyway – that was pretty happy. **

"I thought she wanted to follow my footsteps and finally settled down and was happy" Helen groaned. "I really gave her a guilt trip didn't I?"

"Yes" Jake agreed. "But it works" he added hastily at Andy's glare. "She does try to be better and she is happy"

"**Suzie, I'm just so proud of you," she gushed. "You really are finding yourself out here. You know how I used to worry, back in New York. You always seemed to be getting into trouble. But it looks as if things are really turning around...for the both of us."**

**This was when I should have said, "Listen, Mom. About Red Beaumont? Ok, definitely up to no good, possibly a **_**vampire**_**. Enough said. Now could you tell him I've got a migraine and that I can't go to dinner?"**

"Like that would work"

**But I didn't. I couldn't. I just kept remembering that look Mr Beaumont had given me. He was going to tell my mother. He was going to tell my mother the truth. About how I busted into his place under false pretences, about the dream I'd said I had. **

**About how I can talk to the dead.**

**No. No, that was not going to happen. I had finally gotten to a point in my life where my mom was beginning to be proud of me, to trust me, even. It was kind of like New York has been this really bad nightmare from which she and I had finally woken up. Here in California I was popular. I was normal. I was cool. I was the kind of daughter my mom had always wanted instead of the social reject who'd constantly be dragged home by the police for trespassing and creating a public nuisance. I was no longer forced to lie to a therapist twice a week. I wasn't serving permanent detention. I didn't have to listen to my mother cry into her pillow at night or notice her surreptitiously starting a Valium regimen whenever parent-teacher conferences rolled around.**

Helen had an urge to bang her head against the wall.

**Hey, with the exception of the poison oak, even my skin had cleared up. I was a completely different kid. **

**I took a deep breath. **

"**Sure, Mom," I said. "Sure, things are really turning around for us."**

Helen groaned. "I'm a terrible mother, terrible, my own child can't confide in me and she feels pressured to have dinner with a murderer just to make me happy"

"Helen, you're a wonderful mother and that's why Suze is eager to please you" Andy said softly. "She does it because she loves you not because she feels pressured"

Brad turned round in time to see Andy kiss Helen. "Argh! My poor virgin eyes!" he yelled turning round quickly.

"What virgin eyes? According to Suze you have a love slave" Jake teased.

"Shuddup!"

"All right Brad, you can come out of the corner now"

"No kissing!"

Andy smirked. "I can't promise you that"

All three boys groaned.


	13. Chapter 13

**He didn't eat.**

"How could he?" Brad gasped.

**He'd invited me to dinner, but he didn't eat. **

**Tad did. Tad ate a lot. **

"Typical" Helen snorted.

**Well, boys always do. I mean, look at mealtime in the Ackerman household. It was like something out of a Jack London novel. Only instead of White Fang and the rest of the sled dogs, you have Sleepy, Dopey and even Doc, chowing down like it might be their last meal. **

"We are not dogs!" Brad said indignantly.

Andy raised an eyebrow. "Entry number three of this diary seems to disagree with you"

**At least Tad had good manners. He'd held my chair for me as I'd sat down. He actually employed a napkin, instead of simply wiping his hands on his pants, one of Dopey's favourite tricks. And he made sure I was served first, so there was plenty to go around. **

Andy looked wistful. "If only I had a son like that"

"Dad!"

**Especially since his father wasn't eating. **

**But he did sit with us. He sat at the head of the table with a glass of red wine – at least, it **_**looked**_** like wine – and beamed at me as each course was presented. You read that right: courses. I'd never had a meal with courses before. I mean Andy was a good cook and all, but he usually served everything all at once – you know, entree, salad, rolls, the whole thing at the same time. **

"And it usually vanishes all at the same time too. Maybe I should do courses so Suze and Helen could eat"

**At Red Beaumont's house, the course all came individually, served by waiters with this big flourish; two waiters, so that each of our plates – Tad's and mine, I mean – were put down at the same time, and nobody's food got cold while he or she was waiting for everyone else to be served. **

**The first course was a consommé, which turned out to have bits of lobster floating in it. That was pretty good. Then came some kind of fancy sea scallops in this tangy green sauce. Then came lamb with garlic mashed potatoes, then salad, a mess of weeds with balsamic vinegar all over them, followed by a tray on which there were all these different kinds of stinky cheeses. **

"Hmm...Maybe I should try some of those dishes if Suze enjoyed them so much"

**And Mr Beaumont didn't touch a thing. He said he was on a special diet and had already had his dinner.**

Brad snorted. "I bet"

**And even though I don't believe in vampires, I just kept sitting there wondering what his special diet consisted of, and if Mrs Fiske and those missing environmentalists had provided any part of it.**

"Probably"

**I know. I **_**know**_**. But I couldn't help it. It was creeping me out the way he just sat there drinking his wine and smiling as Tad chatted about basketball. From what I could gather – I was having trouble concentrating, what with wondering why Father D hadn't given me a bottle of holy water when he'd first realized there might be a chance we were dealing with a vampire**

"I think that's against the rules" David said.

"Father D had no problem giving Suze holy water when he was spraying my room with it" Brad grumbled.

"He was getting rid of bad spirits from the dead body. Now that I think of it, Suze was probably being haunted by someone similar to Heather and this was to keep them out"

– **Tad was Robert Louis Stevenson's star player. **

**As I sat there listening to Tad go on about all three pointers he'd scored, I realized with a sinking heart that not only was he possibly the descendant of a vampire, but also that, except for kissing, he and I really had no mutual interests. I mean, I don't have a whole lot of time for hobbies, what with homework and the mediating stuff, but I was pretty sure if I'd had an interest, it wouldn't be chasing a ball up and down a wooden court. **

"Suze is far more intellectual than that"

"Unless she's shopping"

**But maybe kissing was enough. Maybe kissing was the only thing that mattered anyway. Maybe kissing could overcome the whole vampire/basketball thing.**

"Teenagers" Andy muttered.

**Because as we got up from the table to go to the living room, where dessert, I was told, would be served, Tad picked up my hand – which was, by the way, still a bit poison oaky, but he evidently didn't care; there was still a healthy amount of it on the back of his neck, after all – and gave it a squeeze.**

**And all of a sudden I was convinced that I had probably way overreacted back home when I'd asked Jesse to have Father Dominic call the cops if I wasn't home by midnight. **

"Susannah Simon, you were not overreacting! You were being cautious and I am very proud of you for that"

**I mean, yeah, there were people who might think Red Beaumont was a vampire, and he certainly may have made his fortune in a creepy way.**

**But that didn't necessarily make him a bad guy. And we didn't have any actually **_**proof **_**he really killed all those people. And what about that dead woman who kept showing up in my bedroom? She was convinced Red **_**hadn't**_** killed her. She'd gone to great lengths to assure me that he was innocent of her death, at least. Maybe Mr Beaumont wasn't that bad. **

"I doubt it. People like Mr Beaumont are very charismatic people, they make you feel flattered, safe, admired and then they can easily stab you in the back"

Andy stared at his youngest in concern. "Who did that to you?" he demanded.

"Oh not to me, Dad" David said reassuringly. "It's just history. Many people are charismatic and they easily use it to cause havoc. Like Adolf Hitler"

"**I thought you were mad at me," Tad whispered as we followed Yoshi, who was carrying a tray of coffee – herbal tea for me – into the living room ahead of us. **

"Awww..." Helen cooed causing some eye rolling.

"**Why should I be mad at you?" I whispered curiously. **

"**Well, last night," Tad whispered, "when I was kissing you-"**

"Blergh! We don't need a reminder, mate" Brad said pulling a face.

**All at once I remembered how I'd seen Jesse sitting there, and how I'd screamed bloody murder over it. Blushing, I said, unable to look Tad in the eyes, "Oh, that. That was just...i thought...i saw a spider."**

The boys snorted. "The sad thing is, that is a very believable story" Jake said, remembering the time a spider crawled all over the dashboard when he was driving Suze to work last summer.

"**A spider?" Tad pulled me down on to this black leather couch next to him. In front of the couch was a big coffee table that looked like it was made out of Plexiglas. "In my **_**car**_**?"**

"It doesn't matter how rich you are, spiders will come into cars" Andy said.

"**I've got a thing about spiders," I said. **

"Tell me about it" Jake said.

Brad snickered. "She screamed bloody blue murder when one got into her bedroom"

"Language"

"Just remember Brad, you're the one terrified of beetles"

"With good reason! They all just spilt out of the orange juice carton and into my mouth!"

Helen shuddered. She was so glad she was at work when that happened.

"**Oh." Tad looked at me with his sleepy brown eyes. "I thought maybe you thought I was – well, a little forward. Kissing you like that, I mean."**

"**Oh, no," I said with a laugh that I hoped sounded all sophisticated, as if guys were going around sticking their tongues in my mouth all the time. **

"God, I hope not"

"**Good," Tad said, and he put his arm around my neck and started pulling me towards him-**

"Ew, quick, skip the snogging!"

"There's no need" Helen said a little disappointedly.

**But then his dad walked in, and went, "Now, where we were? Oh, yes. Susannah, you were going to tell us all about how your class is trying to raise money to restore the statue of Father Serra that was so unfortunately vandalized last week..."**

"Not that story again" Brad moaned. Everyone nodded an agreement they had all gotten sick of hearing about Father Serra and his statue during dinner.

**Tad and I pulled quickly apart. **

"**Uh, sure," I said. And I started telling the long, boring tale, which actually involved a bake sale, of all things. As I was telling it, Tad reached over to the massive glass coffee table in front of him and picked up a cup of coffee. He put cream and sugar into it, then took a sip.**

"**And then," I said, really convinced now that the whole thing had been a giant misunderstanding**

"Heather? That was no misunderstanding at all"

– **The thing about Tad's dad, I mean – **

"Ah..."

"**We found out it's actually cheaper to get a whole new statue cast than to repair the old one, but then it wouldn't be authentic...well, whoever the artist is, I forget. So we're still trying to figure it out. If we repair the old one, there'll be a seam that will show where the neck was reattached, but we could hide the seam if we raise the collar of Father Serra's cassock. So there's some wrangling going on about the historical accuracy of a high-collared cassock and-"**

Both Brad and Jake yawned.

**It was at this point in my narration that Tad suddenly pitched forwards and plowed face-first into my lap. **

Brad threw his head back and laughed while Jake snickered. David, Andy and Helen, however looked concerned.

**I blinked down at him. Was I really **_**that**_** boring?**

"Yes"

"Brad!"

**God, no wonder no one had ever asked me out before. **

**Then I realized Tad wasn't asleep at all. He was **_**unconscious**_**. **

"Holy sh-I mean shoe. Yes holy shoe" Brad said as Andy raised his eyebrow at him.

Jake and David had difficulty to not laugh.

**I looked over at Mr Beaumont, who was gazing sadly at his son from the leather couch opposite mine. **

"**Oh, my God," I said. **

**Mr Beaumont sighed. "Fast-acting, isn't it?" he said. **

"My god" Helen whispered.

**Horrified, I exclaimed, "God, poison your kid, why don't you?"**

"**He hasn't been poisoned," Mr Beaumont said, looking appalled. "Do you think I would do something like that to my own boy? He's merely drugged, of course. In a few hours he'll wake up and not remember a thing. He'll just feel extremely well rested."**

"So he does care about his kid" Andy murmured, still appalled that someone could bring themselves to drug the child they raised. Even if it was occasionally tempting to sedate Brad.

**I was struggling to push Tad off me. The guy wasn't huge or anything, but he was dead weight, and it was no easy task getting his face out of my lap. **

"**Listen," I said to Mr Beaumont as I struggled to squirm out from under his son, "you better not try anything."**

"Nice threat"

**With one hand I pushed Tad, while the other I surreptitiously unzipped mu bag. I hadn't let it out of my sight since I entered the house, in spire of the fact that Yoshi had tried to take it and put it with my coat. A few squirts of pepper spray, I decided, would suit Mr Beaumont very nicely in the event he tried anything physical. **

"**I mean it," I assured him, as I slipped a hand inside my bag and fumbled around inside it for the pepper spray. "It would be a really bad idea for you to mess with me, Mr Beaumont. I'm not who you think I am."**

**Mr Beaumont just looked more sad when he heard that. He said, with another big sigh, "Neither am I."**

"Oh, god, oh Jesus Christ" Helen moaned.

"**No," I said. I had found the pepper spray, and now, one-handed, I worked the little plastic safety cap off it. "You think I'm just some stupid girl your son's brought home for dinner. But I'm not."**

"**Of course you're not," Mr Beaumont said. "That's why it was so important that I speak with you again. You talk to the dead, and I, you see..."**

"First ghosts and now whackos wanting to use Suze to speak to ghosts. What's next fellow psycho mediator?" Jake grumbled.

**I eyed him suspiciously. "You what?"**

"**Well." he looked embarrassed. "I make them that way."**

"Oh, god!"

"Get out there Suze, just bloody run!"

**What had that dopey lady in my bedroom meant when she insisted he hadn't tried to kill her? Of course he had! Just like he killed Mrs Fiske!**

**Just like he was getting ready to kill me. **

"Actually I don't think he will" David said.

"He's still a murderer and she should run away from him, the sooner, the better" Helen half-shrieked.

"**Don't think I don't appreciate your sense of humour, Mr Beaumont," I said. "Because I do. I really do. I think you're a very funny guy. So I hope you won't take this personally-"**

**And I sprayed him, full in the face. **

"Go Suze!"

**Or at least I meant to. I held the nozzle in his direction and I pressed down on it. Only all that came out was sort of **_**spliff **_**noise. **

"No..." Helen moaned.

**No paralyzing pepper spray though. None at all. **

"Get out, then! Run!"

**And then I remembered that bottle of Paul Mitchell styling spritz that leaked all over the bottom of my bag the last time I was at the beach. That stuff, mixed with sand, had gunked up nearly everything I owned. And now, it seemed, it had coated the hole of my pepper sprat was supposed to squirt out of. **

"Suzie! What have I told you about cleaning your bag out after going to the beach?"

"**Oh," Mr Beaumont said. He looked very disappointed in me. "Mace? Now is that fair, Susannah?"**

"Like he's playing fair"

**I knew what I had to do. I threw down the useless bottle and started to make a run for it-**

"Thank God!"

"About time!"

**Too late, however. He lashed out – so suddenly, I didn't even have time to move – and seized my wrist in a grip that, let me tell you, hurt quite a bit. **

"NO!"

"**You better let go of me," I advised him. "I mean it. You'll regret it-"**

**But he ignored me, and spoke without the least bit of animosity; almost as if I hadn't just tried to paralyze his mucus membranes. **

"**I'm sorry if I seemed flippant before," he said, apologetically. "But I really mean it. I have, unfortunately, made some very serious errors in judgement that have resulted in several persons losing their lives and at my own hands...it is imperative that you help me speak to them, to assure them that I am very, very sorry for what I've done."**

"O...K"

"Maybe he won't hurt Suzie" Helen whispered.

"I don't think he will...to be honest I think he's in need of some psychiatric help" Andy said.

**I blinked at him. "Ok," I said. "That's it. I'm out of here."**

**But no matter how hard I pulled on my arm, I couldn't break free of his vicelike grip. The guy was surprisingly strong for someone's dad. **

"**I know that to you I seem horrible," he went on. "A monster, even. But I'm not. I'm really not."**

"**Tell that to Mrs Fiske," I grunted as I tugged on my arm.**

**Mr Beaumont didn't seem to have heard me. "You can't imagine what it's like. The hours I've spent torturing myself over what I've done..."**

"Then why do it?"

"Well Brad if he is a vampire then he cannot help himself because it's instinct to feed on blood"

"No one asked you David!"

**With my free hand, I was rooting through my bag again. "Well, a real good prescriptive for guilt, I've always found is confessing." **

"When did Suze become so religious?" Jake asked, raising an eyebrow in disbelief.

"I told you, when she had Father D spay my room with holy water!"

"Brad, not even holy water would cleanse that room. Especially with the demons you create" Andy said with a slight shiver. Brad turned slightly pink as his brothers laughed.

**My fingers closed over the roll of dimes. No. No good. He had my best punching arm. **

"She shouldn't have a best punching arm!" Helen exclaimed.

"**Why don't you let me make a phone call, and we can get the police over here, and you can tell them all about it. How does that sound?"**

"Ah, now that makes more sense than confessing to Father Dom"

"**No," Mr Beaumont said solemnly. "That's no good. I highly doubt the police would have any respect whatsoever for my somewhat, well, **_**special**_** needs..."**

"Oh god..."

**And then Mr Beaumont did something unexpected. He smiled at me. Ruefully, but still, a smile. **

**He had smiled at me before, of course, but I had always been across the room, or at least the width of a coffee table away. Now I was right there, right in his face. **

**And when he smiled, I was given a very special glimpse of something I certainly never expected to see in my lifetime:**

"Don't tell me..."

**The pointiest incisors ever. **

"Oh sweet Jesus!" Jake cried out.

"No, no, she's facing a vampire" Helen moaned. "She can't. She won't win. She's..."

"Fuck!" Andy swore.

"Dad!" Brad cried out scandalised.

**Ok, I'll admit it. I freaked. I may have been battling ghosts all of my life, but that didn't mean I was at all prepared for my first encounter with a real live vampire. I mean, ghosts, I knew from experience were real. **

**But vampires? Vampires were the stuff of nightmares, mythological creatures like Bigfoot and the Loch Ness monster. I mean, come on. **

"Let's never go to Scotland. Knowing our luck, Suze will definitely meet the Loch Ness monster" Jake said lightly.

**But here, right in front of me, smiling this completely sickening my-kid-is-an-honour-student kind of smile at me, was an actual real-life vampire in the flesh. **

**Now I knew why, when Marcus had shown up that day in Mrs Beaumont's office, he'd kept looking at my neck. He'd been checking to make sure his boss hadn't tried to go for my jugular.**

**I guess that's why, considering that my free hand was still inside my shoulder bag, I did what I did next. **

**Which was grasp the pencil I'd put in there at the last minute, pull it out, and plunge it with all my might, into the centre of Mr Beaumont's sweater. **

**For a second, both of us froze. Both Mr Beaumont and I stared at the pencil sticking out of his chest. **

Everyone released the breath they had been holding. "Thank God" Helen murmured.

**Then Mr Beaumont said, in a very surprised voice, "Oh, my."**

**To which I replied, "Eat lead."**

Jake and Brad snorted earning dirty looks from their parents.

**And then he pitched forwards, missing the glass coffee table by only a few inches, and ended up on the floor between the couch and the fireplace. **

"That isn't right," David said frowning, "according to most myths, vampires are supposed to explode when staked. Do you think the teeth are result of a surgery and everything is a delusion created by Mr Beaumont?"

"Dave, right now I'll believe anything. Let's just read and see" Andy said ruffling his youngest son's hair.

**Where he lay unmoving for several long moments, during which all I could do was massage the wrist he'd been clutching so hard. **

**He didn't, I noticed after a while, crumble into dust the way vampires on TV did. Nor did he burst into flame as vampires in the movies often do. Instead, he just lay there.**

**And then, little by little, the reality of what I had just done sank in:**

**I had just killed my boyfriend's dad. **

"Well that's definitely a relationship killer" Jake joked as he took the book of Helen. "Honey I killed your father"

Helen flinched. "My baby isn't a murderer!" she snapped.

"Not funny Jake" Andy said. "Just read the next entry. We'll find out if she did or not"


	14. Chapter 14

**Well, ok, Tad wasn't exactly my boyfriend, and I had honestly believed that his dad was a vampire. **

"Behold the influence of Father D," Jake said. "Imagine how good April fools would with his help"

"Yeah, we'll totally PWN Suze!" Brad snickered.

"I despair of you. I really do," David rolled his eyes.

**But guess what? He wasn't. And I killed him.**

**How unpopular was **_**that **_**going to make me?**

"Very."

"Is that all she cares about?"

**And this little bubble of hysteria started rising up into my throat. I could tell I was going to scream. I really didn't want to. But there I was in a room with an unconscious kid and his psycho dad, whom I had just staked through the heart with a Number Two pencil. How could I help thinking, you know, they are so totally going to kick me off the student council...**

"No, they won't, they'll be too busy gossiping about your arrest," Jake snorted.

"She needs to sort out her priorities," David agreed.

"She hysterical, she's allowed to have strange thoughts," Helen glared at the boys.

**Come on. You'd have started screaming too.**

"Nope."

"Nada."

"No."

"Probably but I think I'd be busy running."

**But no sooner had I sucked in a lungful of air and was getting reading to let it out in a shriek guaranteed to bring Yoshi and all those waiters who'd served me dinner come running, than someone standing behind me asked sharply, "What happened here?"**

"The joys of having servants. No privacy but great murder witnesses."

"David! Don't say that, Suze isn't a killer."

"Sorry Mom just meant in general."

**I spun around. And there, looking stunned, stood Marcus, Red Beaumont's secretary. **

**I said the first thing that came into my head, which was, "I didn't mean to, I swear it. Only he was scaring me, so I stabbed him."**

**Marcus, dressed much like the last time I'd seen him, in a suit and tie, rushed towards me. Not towards his boss, who was sprawled out on the floor: But towards me. **

"Probably didn't like his boss much," Brad said.

"Or he doesn't want his boss to suffer a law suit," Helen pointed out. If her baby came home with bite marks and hysteria about Red Beaumont, Helen would have sued the hell out of the businessman.

"**Are you all right?" he demanded, grabbing me by the shoulders and looking all up and down my body...but mostly at my neck. "Did he hurt you?"**

"No, thank God."

**Marcus' face was white with anxiety. **

"_**I'm**_** fine," I said. I was starting to feel a lump in my throat. "It's your boss you ought to be worried about..." My gaze flitted toward Tad, still face-down on the couch. "Oh, and his kid. He poisoned his kid"**

"Didn't Mr Beaumont tell her that Tad was only drugged?"

"Brad, do you really think Suze would believe a man who she thinks is a murderer?"

"Err..."

**Marcus went over to Tad and pried open one of his eyelids. Then he bent and listened to his breathing. "No," he said, almost to himself. "Not poisoned. Just drugged."**

"**Oh," I said with a nervous laugh. "Oh, then that's ok."**

**What the hell was going on here? Was this guy for real?**

"No, he's just a figment of your imagination." Brad said sarcastically, "And you all think I'm the stupid one"

"Brad, do you even know the meaning of figment?"

"That's not the point!"

**He seemed so. He was obviously very concerned. He shoved the coffee table out of the way, then bent and turned his boss over. **

**I had to look away. I didn't think I could bear to see that pencil sticking out of Mr Beaumont's chest.**

Helen winced while Andy had difficulty to hide his amusement. The mental image was rather comical in his mind. Both Brad and Jake snorted causing Helen to glare at them.

**I mean, I had rammed ghosts in the chest with all sorts of stuff – pickaxes, butcher's knives, tent poles, whatever was handy.**

Brad paled and Jake's smile vanished. "Remember not to get on Suze's bad side, Brad" Jake said.

**But the thing about ghosts is...well they're already dead. Tad's father had been alive when I'd jabbed that pencil into him. **

**Oh, God, **_**why**_** had I let Father Dom put that stupid vampire idea into my head? What kind of idiot believes in vampires?**

"Twilight fans?"

"Anne Rice fanatics?"

"Weridos?"

**I must have been out of my mind. **

"I knew that long ago."

"Bradley, I'm warning you!"

"**Is he..." I could barely choke the question out. I had to keep my gaze on Tad because if I looked down at his dad, I had a feeling I'd hurl all that lamb and mesclun salad.**

"No lamb and mesclun salad" Andy mumbled to himself as he jotted it down on his list. He had to remember that the next dinner he cooks.

**Even in my anxiety I couldn't help noticing that, unconscious, Tad still looked pretty hot. **

The boys groaned and rolled their eyes.

**He certainly wasn't drooling or anything.**

"But drool can be cute!" Helen beamed up at Andy.

"Oh, yuck." Brad grumbled.

"**Is he dead?"**

**And I thought my mother was going to be mad if she found out about the mediator thing. Could you imagine how mad she'd be if she found out I'm a teenage killer?**

"I don't think mad is the word I'd use," Helen said thoughtfully, "I'd probably be distraught."

"You'd be hysterical." Andy confirmed. "I'd be the angry one."

**Marcus's voice sounded surprised. "Of course he's not dead," he said. "Just fainted. You must have given him quite a little scare."**

Brad snickered. "I bet."

**I snuck a peek in his direction. He had straightened up, and was standing there with my pencil in his hands. I looked hastily away, my stomach lurching.**

"**Is this what you used on him?" Marcus asked me in a wry voice. When I nodded silently still not willing to glance in his direction in case I caught a glimpse of Mr Beaumont's blood, he said, "Don't worry. It didn't go in very far. You hit his sternum."**

"His what?"

"The sternum (plural sterna or sternums, from Greek στέρνον,_ sternon_, "chest" or breastbone) is a long flat bone (or, in some instances, set of three bones) shaped like a capital 'T' located in the center of the thorax (chest). It connects to the rib bones via cartilage, forming the anterior section of the rib cage with them, and thus helps to protect the lungs, heart and major blood vessels from physical trauma" David said, sounding like he memorized a biology text.

"Err...right." Brad said.

David sighed. "It's a bone."

"Ooh...now that makes sense!"

**Jeesh. Good thing Red Beaumont hadn't turned out to be the real thing or I'd have been in serious trouble. I couldn't even stake a guy properly. I really must be losing my touch.**

"What touch? Nothing gentle or healing or even feminine."

**As it was, all I had succeeded in doing was making a complete ass of myself. I said, still feeling that little bubble of hysteria in my chest, which I blamed for causing me to babble a little incoherently, "He poisoned Tad, and then he grabbed me, and I just freaked out..."**

**Marcus left his boss's unconscious body and laid a comforting hand on my arm. He said, "Shh, I know, I know," in a soothing voice. **

"**I'm really sorry," I jabbered on. "But he has that thing about sunlight, and then he wouldn't eat, and then when he smiled, he had those pointy teeth and I really thought-"**

"Dental surgery. He must have had it done, definitely wealthy enough to afford it."

"Definitely insane enough to do it."

"**- he was a vampire." Marcus, to my surprise, finished my sentence for me. "I know, Miss Simon."**

"Cover ups."

**I'm embarrassed to admit it, but the truth is, I was pretty close to bursting into tears. **

"What? _Really_? On my god, call the press, Suze can cry!"

"Stop being a git, Brad."

**Marcus's admission, however, made me forget all about my urge to break down into big weepy sobs.**

"Now, that sounds like the Suze we all know and...Well you lot love her."

"Brad!" Andy exclaimed. "How could you be so cold to your own sister?"

"Because she's evil."

"**You **_**know**_**?" I echoed, staring up at him incredulously.**

**He nodded. His expression was grim. "It's what his doctors call a fixation.**

"Wha-"

"Fixation is a psychological disorder where a person becomes obsessed on either a human, object or idea. Sigmund Freud had theorised this was due to a lack of proper gratification during one of the psychosexual stages of development. However, I personally would not take his word on it since this is a man that believes females suffer penius envy and Suze is the living embodiment that that is certainly not true. She has no envy of either her own father or ours. Fixation has symptoms similar to OCD due to the obsession factor in both psychological disorders." David said before Brad could even finish his question.

"So he's nuts?" Brad summarised.

"Yes."

"Why didn't you just say so?"

"Because I hope one day you absorbed something I tell you and use your own brain."

"David!" everyone cried out in shock.

**He's on medication for it, and most days, he does all right. But sometimes, when we aren't careful, he skips a dose, and...Well, you can see the results for yourself. He becomes convinced that he is a dangerous vampire who has killed dozens of people-"**

"**Yeah," I said. "He mentioned that too." and had looked very upset about it too. **

"At least he's remorseful." Helen muttered grudgingly.

"**But I assure you, Miss Simon, that he isn't in any way a menace to society. He's actually quite harmless – he's never hurt a soul."**

Jake snorted. Terrifying his sister was what he'd call hurting a soul. Especially since Suze is usually fearless.

**My gaze strayed over towards Tad. Marcus must have noticed because he added quickly, "Well, let's just say he's never caused any **_**permanent **_**damage."**

**Permanent damage? Your own dad slipping you a Mickey wasn't considered permanent damage around here? And how did that explain Mrs Fiske and those missing environmentalists?**

"Maybe he did kill them when he forgot his medication?" David suggested. "Or someone else did and he blames himself?"

"**I can't apologize enough to you, Miss Simon," Marcus was saying. He had put his arm around me, and was walking me away from the couch, and towards, of all things, the front entranceway. "I'm very sorry you had to witness this disturbing scene."**

"Getting rid of her in a gentle and smooth way, he'll be threatening legal action if she tries anything." Helen mumbled.

**I glanced over my shoulder: Behind me, Yoshi had appeared. He turned Tad over so his face wasn't squashed into the seat cushion, then draped a blanket over him while a couple of other guys hauled Mr Beaumont to his feet. He murmured something and rolled his head around. **

**Not dead. Definitely not dead. **

"**Of course, I needn't point out to you that none of this would have happened-" Marcus didn't sound quite so apologetic as he had before – "if you hadn't plated that little prank on him last night. Mr Beaumont is not a well man. He is very easily agitated. And one thing that gets him particularly excited is any mention whatsoever of the occult. The so-called dream that you described to him only served to trigger another one of his episodes."**

"Very true," David agreed.

"It's not like she had much choice, though," Jake pointed out. "She had to deliver to dead lady's message or she'll be stuck with an eternity of no sleep."

**I felt that I had to try, at least, to defend myself. And so I said, "Well, how was I supposed to know that? I mean, if he's so prone to episodes, why don't you keep him locked up?"**

Helen glared. "Add a lecture on people with disorders having rights on that list."

"Yes, dear."

"**Because this isn't the Middle Ages, young lady."**

**Marcus removed his arm from around my shoulders and stood looking down at me very severely. **

"**Today, physicians prefer to treat persons suffering from disorders like the one Mr Beaumont had with medication and therapy rather than keeping him in isolation from his family," Marcus informed me. "Tad's father can function normally, and even well, so long as little girls who don't know what's good for them keep their noses out of his business."**

"Ooh..."

"Ye-ouch."

"Harsh."

**Ouch! That was harsh. I had to remind myself that I wasn't the bad guy here. I mean,**_** I**_** wasn't the one running around insisting I was a vampire. **

**And I hadn't caused a bunch of people to disappear just because they'd stood in the way of my building another strip mall. **

**But even as I thought it, I wondered if it were true. I mean, it didn't seem as if Tad's father had enough marbles rolling around in his head to organize something as sophisticated as a kidnapping and murder. Either my weirdo meter was out of whack or there was something seriously wrong here...and a mere 'fixation' just didn't explain it. What, I wondered, about Mrs Fiske? She was dead and Mr Beaumont had killed her – she'd said so herself. Marcus was obviously trying to downplay the severity of his employer's psychosis. **

"Or there's something else going on."

**Or was he? A man who fainted just because a girl poked him with a pencil didn't exactly seem the sort to successfully carry out a murder:**

The boys and Andy snickered until Helen gave them a stern look.

**Was it possible he hadn't been suffering from his current 'disorder' when he offed Mrs Fiske and those other people?**

"Maybe...that's a rather reasonable theory."

**I was still trying to puzzle all of this out when Marcus, who'd shepherded me to the front door; produced my coat. He helped me into it, then said, "Aikiku will drive you home, Miss Simon."**

**I looked around and saw another Japanese guy, this one all in black, standing by the front door. He bowed politely to me. **

"**And let's get one thing straight."**

**Marcus was still speaking to me in fatherly tones. He seemed irritated, but not really mad. **

"Unlike some real fathers," Brad said cheekily.

"He doesn't have the burden of three teenage boys and one teenage girl who sees ghosts," Andy said smiling. "If he did, he'll be truly angry."

"**What happened here tonight," he went on, "was very strange, it's true. But no one was injured..."**

"Covering up." Helen said knowingly.

**He must have noticed my gaze skitter towards Tad still passed out on the couch, since he added, "Not seriously hurt, anyway. And so I think it would behove you to keep your mouth shut about what you've seen here. because if you should take it into your head to tell anyone about what you've seen here," Marcus went on in a manner one might almost called friendly, "I will, of course, have to tell your parents about that unfortunate prank you played on Mr Beaumont...and press formal assault charges against you, of course."**

"Rich bastard!"

"Brad, language!"

"What? It's true?"

"Actually Brad, it's rich bastard's lackey." David corrected his older brother.

Andy glared at his middle son. "See what language you're teaching your younger brother?"

Brad flushed. "Sorry!" he mumbled.

"Actually Dad, bastard is a perfectly acceptable term for children who were born without their parents being married to one another. Royalty usually had many bastards from their mistresses and they were giving high status despite their bastardry."

Andy felt a headache coming on. "I know what the context means now, David, and it's the disgusting language I don't want to hear from you three and Suze. Got it?"

"Yes, Dad" David said innocently.

**My mouth dropped open. I realized it, after a second, and snapped it shut again. **

"**But he-" I began.**

**Marcus cut me off. "Did he?" he looked down at me meaningfully. "Did he really? There was no witness to that fact, save yourself. And do you really believe anyone is going to take the word of a little juvenile delinquent like yourself over the word of a respectable businessman?"**

"Especially with Suze's record." Helen sighed.

**The jerk had me, and he knew it. **

"Of course."

**He smiled down at me, a little triumphant twinkle in his eye. **

"**Goodnight, Miss Simon," he said. **

**Proving once again that the life of a mediator just ain't all it's cracked up to be: I didn't even get to stay for dessert. **

"Bet it would have been an excellent dessert if any of the other courses were to go by," Andy said wistfully. "Poor girl, missing out on good cooking."

"It's not like she likes to eat anyway going by her reaction to the quesadillas." Brad pointed out.

"Because you and your brothers disgusting eating habits ruined her appetite" Andy shot back. "Maybe I should give you all etiquette lessons so we wouldn't have this problem"

"No!" all three boys moaned.


	15. Chapter 15

**Dropped off with about as much ceremony as a rolled-up newspaper on a Monday morning, I trudged up the driveway. I'd been a little scared Marcus had changed his mind about not pressing charges and that our house might have been surrounded by cops there to haul me in for assaulting Mr B.**

"Nah that would have only happened if she argued back even more. Unless she does something later on, he won't do anything."

**But no one jumped out at me, gun drawn, from behind the bushes, which was a good sign.**

**As soon as I walked in, my mother was all over me, wanting to know what it had been like at the Beaumonts – what had we had for dinner? What had the decor been like? Had Tad asked me to the prom?**

Helen grimaced at her past self's actions. She had most likely made things more difficult for her daughter back then.

**I declared myself too sleepy to talk and, instead, went straight up to my room. All I could think about was how on earth I was going to prove to the world that Red Beaumont was a cold-blooded killer.**

"He's not cold-blooded, he said so himself he felt remorse," David pointed out.

"And if she doesn't drop it, she'll be the one in prison not him," Brad added almost gleefully.

**Well, ok, maybe not a cold-blooded one, since he evidently felt remorse for what he'd done. But a killer, just the same. **

**I had forgotten, of course, about my new room-mate. As I approached my bedroom door; I saw Max sitting in front of it, his huge tongue lolling. There were scratch marks all up and down the door where he'd tried clawing his way in.**

"It took me a whole day to clean that door up," Andy grumbled.

**I guess the fact that there was a cat in there was more overpowering than the fact that there was also a ghost in there. **

"**Bad dog," I said when I saw the scratch marks. **

**Instantly, Doc's bedroom door across the hall opened. **

"I heard her footsteps and waited for confirmation that it was her because I had to speak to her urgently." Doc replied to the questioning looks his family gave him.

"**Have you got a cat in there?" he demanded, but not in an accusing way. More like he was really interested, from a scientific point of view. **

"You knew?" Andy demanded.

"You were interested in that little monster?" Brad cried out, horrified.

"Yes I knew and yes I kept it a secret. I respect my sister's privacy and her as a person, enough that I won't tell on her like a spoilt little kid." There was a dark look aimed at Brad who flushed pink. "And yes, I found the cat highly interesting. Their behaviour is very different from dogs and I wanted to know more about Brad's allergy. I might have been able to discover a more permanent cure."

"Experiment medicine after you graduate medical school." Andy ordered.

"**Um," I said. "Maybe."**

"**Oh. I wondered. Because usually Max, you know, he stays away from your room. You know why."**

**Doc widened his eyes meaningfully. When I'd first moved in, Doc had very chivalrously offered to trade rooms with me, since mine, he not noted, had a distinct cold spot in it, a clear indication that it was a centre for paranormal activity. While I'd chosen to keep the room, I'd been impressed by Doc's self-sacrifice. His two elder brothers certainly hadn't been generous. **

"Because we didn't believe in ghosts," Jake protested.

"And who'd want to sleep in a room filled with frills?" Brad snorted.

"**It's just for one night," I assured him. "The cat, I mean."**

"Ha!"

"**Oh," Doc said. "Well, that's good. Because you know that Brad does suffer from an adverse reaction to feline dander. Allergens, or allergy-producing substances, cause the release of histamine, an organic compound responsible for allergic symptoms. There are a variety of allergens, such as contactants – like poison oak – and airborne, like Brad's sensitivity to cat dander. The standard treatment is, of course, avoidance, if at all possible, the allergen."**

"Which is why you shouldn't complain about your allergy if you stayed out of Suze's bedroom," Andy said sternly.

**I blinked at him. "I'll keep that in mind," I said. **

**Doc smiled. "Great. Well, goodnight. Come on, Max."**

**He hauled the dog away, and I went into my room. **

**To find that my new room-mate had flown the coop. Spike was gone, and the open window told me how he'd escaped.**

"Not for long. The monster decided to come back," Brad grumbled.

"**Jesse," I muttered. **

**Jesse was always opening and closing my windows. I hauled them open at night, only to find them securely closed come morning. Usually I appreciated this since the morning fog that rolled in from the bay was often freezing. **

"So sweet of him," Helen cooed.

**But now his good intentions had resulted to Spike escaping. **

**Well, I wasn't going looking for the stupid cat. If he wanted to come back, he knew the way. If not, I figured I'd done my duty, at least so far as Timothy was concerned. I'd found his wretched pet and brought it to safety. If the stupid thing refused to stay, that wasn't my problem. **

"Had to come back," Brad mumbled disgruntled.

**I was just getting ready to climb into the hot steaming bath I'd run for myself – I think best when submerged in soapy water – when the phone rang. I didn't answer it, of course, because the phone is hardly ever for me. **

"So not true."

**It's usually either Debbie Mancuso – despite Dopey's protests that they were not seeing each other – or one of the multitudes of giggly young women who called for Sleepy...who was never home due to his gruelling pizza-delivery schedule. **

"Unless Suze is up to something then it'll be a sudden rush of Father D, her two friends, some other random people."

**This time, however, I heard my mother holler up the stairs that it was Father Dominic for me. My mother, in spite of what you might think, doesn't consider it the least bit weird that I am constantly getting phone calls from the principal of my school.**

"Well, she's on the school council. They probably have a lot to talk about since Kelly seems a little...less down to earth."

**Thanks to my being vice president of my class, and chairwoman of the Restore Junipero Serra's Head committee, there are actually quite a few completely innocuous reasons why the principal might need to call me.**

"See."

**But Father D never calls me at home to discuss anything remotely school related. He only calls when he wants to ream me out for something to do with mediating. **

"You really would believe anything, wouldn't you?" Jake said. "Father D would have phoned Kelly and call her to the office if he wanted to know all of this. And he never did."

"I always thought Father D favoured Suze," Brad said.

"He does. Only now we know it's because they share this ghost thing."

**Before I picked up the extension in my room, I wondered – irritably since I was wearing nothing but a towel and suspected my bath water would be cold by the time I finally got into it – what I had done this time. **

"Jesse probably reacted a little too much," Helen said smiling fondly. "The boy cares for her deeply."

"And she was being a little too dramatic about the whole thing," Jake muttered.

"How could she not? She had a murderer in her house," David whispered back.

**And then, as if I'd already slid into the bath, and found it freezing. Chills went up my spine.**

**Jesse. My hasty discussion with Jesse before I'd left for Tad's. Jesse had gone to Father Dominic. **

**No, he wouldn't have. I'd told him not to. Not unless I wasn't back by midnight. And I'd gotten home by ten. Earlier, even. Nine forty-five. **

"Not unless he thought she was in trouble. Oh, how sweet!"

**That couldn't be it, I told myself. That couldn't possibly be it. Father Dominic did not know about Jesse. He did not know a thing. **

**Still, when I said hello, I said it tentatively. **

**Father Dominic's voice was warm. "Oh, hello, Susannah," he gushed. "So sorry to call so late, only I needed to discuss yesterday's student council meeting with you-"**

"**It's ok. Father D," I said. "My mom hung up the downstairs phone."**

**Father Dominic's voice changed completely. It was no longer warm. Instead it was very indignant.**

Jake and Brad laughed. "Busted," Brad said.

"**Susannah," he said. "Delighted as I am to find that you are all right, I would like to know when, if ever, you were going to tell me about this Jesse person."**

"Probably never."

**Oops.**

"**He tells me he has been living in your bedroom since you moved to California several weeks ago, and that you have been perfectly aware, all this time, of that fact."**

**I had to hold the phone away from my ear. I'd always known, of course, that Father Dominic would be mad when he found out about Jesse. But I never guessed he'd go ballistic. **

"It's because she kept it a secret," Andy said knowingly. "He thought he won her trust and now it turns out he hadn't succeeded as well as he thought he has."

"Speaking of experience, Dad?"

"Yes."

"**This is the most outrageous thing I've ever heard." Father D was really warming to the subject. "What would your poor mother say if she knew?**

"Finally, my daughter is getting laid?" Brad suggested.

Helen swatted him over the head. "I'm not completely happy with the living arrangements, no matter how much I approve of the relationship," she sniffed indignantly.

**I simply don't know what I'm going to do with you, Susannah. I thought you and I had established a certain amount of trust in our relationship, but all this time, you've been keeping this Jesse fellow secret-"**

"See, what did I tell you?"

"Yes, Dad, you're all knowing, we know, we know." Jake said rolling his eyes.

"Cheek!"

**Fortunately, at that moment, the call-waiting went off. **

"See? Moment she's up to something she gets a sudden rush of calls."

**I said, "Oh, hold on a minute, would you, Father D?"**

**As I hit the receiver, I heard him say, "Do not put me on hold while I am speaking to you, young lady-"**

**I'd been expecting Debbie Mancuso to be on the other line, but to my surprise, it was Cee Cee. **

Brad and Jake snickered, knowing that Father Dominic must have been very peeved for that.

"**Hey, Suze," she said. "I was doing a little more research on your boyfriend's dad-"**

"**He's not my boyfriend," I said automatically. Especially not now. **

"**Yeah, ok, your would-be boyfriend, then. Anyway, I thought you might be interested to know that after his wife – Tad's mom – died ten years ago, things really started to go downhill for Mr B."**

"Really?" Andy said fascinated.

"Can't be financially, can it?" Jake asked.

"Many famous people manage to keep their expensive houses when they're in debt." David pointed out.

**I raised my eyebrows. "Downhill? Like how? Not financially. I mean, if you ever saw where they live..."**

"**No, not financially. I mean that after she died – breast cancer; diagnosed too late to treat; don't worry, nobody killed her – Mr B sort of lost interest in all of his many companies and started to keep to himself."**

"Must be when the fixation started."

**Aha. This was probably when the first onset of his 'disorder' began. **

"**Here's the really interesting part though," Cee Cee said. I could hear her tapping on her keyboard. "It was around this time that Red Beaumont handed over almost all of his responsibilities to his brother."**

"BROTHER?"

"_**Brother**_**?"**

"**Yeah. Marcus Beaumont."**

There was a moment of silence.

"Holy shit!"

"Jake!"

**I was genuinely surprised. Marcus was **_**related**_** to Mr Beaumont? I'd thought him a mere flunky. But he wasn't. He was Tad's**_** uncle**_**. **

"**That's what it says. Mr Beaumont – Tad's dad – is still the figurehead, but this other Mr Beaumont is the one who's really been running things for the past ten years."**

"So there you have it. Red didn't kill any of them, Marcus did." David said looking satisfied that one of his theories had panned out.

"That poor man," Helen murmured sympathetically.

**I froze. **

**Oh my God. Had I got it wrong?**

**Maybe it hadn't been Red Beaumont at all who'd killed Mrs Fiske. Maybe it had been Marcus. The **_**other **_**Mr Beaumont. **

_**Did Mr Beaumont kill you?**_** That's what I'd asked Mrs Fiske. And she'd said yes. And she said yes. But Mrs Beaumont to her might have been Marcus, not poor, vampire-wannabe Red Beaumont.**

**No, wait. Tad's father had told me straight out that he felt sorry for having killed all those people. That had been his motivation for inviting me over all along: he'd been hoping I'd help him communicate with his victims. **

"Poor, poor man."

**But Tad's father was clearly a couple of fries short of a Happy Meal. I don't think he could have killed a cockroach, let alone another human being. **

**No, whoever had killed Mrs Fiske and those other people had been smart enough to cover his tracks...and Tad's no Daniel Boone, let me tell you. **

**His brother on the other hand...**

"**I'm getting a really bad feeling about all this," Cee Cee was saying. "I mean, I know we can't prove anything – and despite what Adam thinks, it's highly unlikely anything my aunt Pru would have to contribute would be permissible in court – but I think we have a moral obligation-"**

"They have no case for court. There's nothing they can actually do," Helen said sadly.

**The call-waiting went off again. Father D. I'd forgotten all about Father D. He'd hung up in a rage and was calling back. **

"Probably, but I reckon he'd hang up and wait to calm down over night so he can have a stern talking to her."

"**Look, Cee Cee," I said, still feeling sort of numb. "We'll talk about it tomorrow at school. Ok?"**

"**Ok," Cee Cee said. "But I'm just letting you know, Suze, I think we've stumbled on to something big here."**

"It's bigger than big. It's gianormous. Info like this would be a hit on the news, one of the most sensational news reports." Helen said rather awed. "This girl has the makings of a journalist."

**Big? Try gargantuan. **

**But it wasn't Father Dominic on the other line, I found out, after I pressed down on the receiver:**

**It was Tad. **

"Uh-oh."

"**Sue?" he said. He still sounded a little groggy. **

"Suze," everyone corrected.

**And he still seemed to have only a slight clue what my name was. **

"He's not worth her time," Andy declared.

"**Um, hi, Tad," I said. **

"**Sue, I am so sorry," he said. **

"It's Suze!" Jake corrected.

**Grogginess aside, he sounded as if he meant it. "I don't know what happened. I guess I was more tired than I thought. You know, at practice they run us pretty hard, and some nights I just conk out sooner than others..."**

"Yeah right," Brad muttered.

**Yeah, I said to myself. I bet. **

"**Don't worry about it," I said. Tad had way bigger things to concern himself with than falling asleep during a date. **

"**But I want to make it up to you," Tad insisted. "Please let me. What are you doing Saturday night?"**

"Is he asking her out on a proper date?" Helen asked rather excited.

**Saturday night? I forgot all about how this kid was related to a possible serial killer. What did **_**that**_** matter? He was asking me out.**

"Oh, bother," Brad grumbled, rolling his eyes.

**On a date. A **_**real**_** date. On Saturday night. Visions of candlelight and French kissing danced in my head. I could hardly speak, I was so flattered. **

"Oh, sounds wonderful!" Helen squealed.

"**I have a game," Tad went on, "but I figured you could come watch me play, and then afterwards we could maybe get a pizza with the rest of the guys or something."**

Helen deflated. "I take it back. He has no idea how to date."

**My excitement died a rapid little death. **

"Just like Mom's."

**Was he kidding? He wanted me to come watch him play **_**basketball**_**? Then go out with him and **_**the rest of the team?**_** For **_**pizza**_**? I wasn't even **_**burger**_** material? I mean, at this point, I'd settle for Sizzler, for crying out loud. **

"That's sad..."

"**Sue,"**

"Suze."

**Tad said when I didn't say anything right away. "You aren't mad at me, are you? I mean, I really didn't mean to fall asleep on you."**

**What was I thinking anyway? It would never work out between the two of us. I mean, I'm a mediator. His dad's a vampire. His uncle's a killer. What if we got married? Think how our kids would turn out...**

Jake and Brad shuddered. "Talk about a fucked up bunch," Brad said.

"Language!"

**Confused. Way confused. **

**Kind of like Tad. **

"Poor guy."

"**It wasn't that you were boring me or anything," he went on. "Really. Well, I mean, that thing you were talking about **_**was**_** kind of boring – the thing about that statue with the head that needed gluing back on. That story, I mean. But not **_**you**_**. **_**You're**_** not boring, Susan. **

"Susannah! Her name is Susannah!" Helen snapped. She hated it when anyone called her daughter Susan.

**That's not why I fell asleep, I swear it."**

"He's being too reassuring. She'll feel insecure about how interesting she is now," Andy said glaring at the book.

"**Tad," I said, annoyed by how many times he'd felt it necessary to assure me I hadn't been boring him – a sure sign I'd been boring him senseless – and of course by the fact that he could not seem to remember my name. "Grow up"**

"Ooh..."

**He said, "Whaddaya mean?"**

"**I mean you didn't fall asleep, ok? You passed out because your dad slipped some Seconal or something into your coffee."**

"Wow...Suze really lacks tact."

**Ok, maybe that wasn't the most diplomatic way to tell this guy his father needed to up his meds. But hey, nobody's going to go around accusing me of being boring. **_**Nobody**_**. **

"Or call her the Queen of the Undead," Jake muttered pointedly to Brad who blushed slightly.

**Besides, don't you think he had a right to know?**

"**Sue," he said, **

"Suze."

**After a moment's pause. Pain throbbed in his voice. "Why would you **_**say**_** something like that? I mean, how could you even **_**think**_** something like that?"**

"Quite easily."

**I guess I couldn't blame the poor guy. It was pretty hard to believe. Unless you'd seen it up close and personal the way I had. **

"**Tad," I said. "I mean it. Your old man...his phaser seems set on permanent stun, if you get my drift"**

"**No," Tad said, a little sullenly, I thought. "I don't know what you're talking about."**

"**Tad," I said. "Come on. The guy thinks he's a vampire."**

"**He does not!" Tad, I realized, was up to his armpits in some major denial. "You're full of it!"**

"Uh-oh, he's going to get an earful now."

**I decided to show Tad just how full of it I was. **

"**No offence, buddy," I said, "but next time you're putting on one of those gold chains of yours, you might ask yourself where the money to pay for it came from. Or better yet, why don't you ask your uncle Marcus?"**

"No..." Helen moaned to herself. "That'll tip Marcus off on how much she knows."

"Don't worry Mom," Brad said reassuringly, "the guy is too much of an idiot to tip Marcus off."

"And Brad knows what he's talking about, since he's on the same level as Tad on the idiocy."

"Hey!"

"**Maybe I will," Tad said. **

"**Maybe you should," I said. **

"**I will, then," Tad said. **

"**Fine, then do it."**

**I slammed down the phone. Then I sat there staring down at it. **

**What on earth had I just done?**

"Gotten yourself in a hell lot of trouble," Helen said grimly.


	16. Chapter 16

**In spite of the fact that I'd nearly killed a man that night, I didn't have too many problems falling asleep. **

"See! Heartless."

"Brad, stop being argumentative. Your sister is not heartless, just emotionally drained."

**Seriously. **

**Ok, so I was tired, all right? I mean, let's face it: I'd had a trying day.**

**And it wasn't like those phone calls I'd gotten just before I'd gone to bed had helped. Father Dominic was totally mad at me for not having told him sooner about Jesse, and Tad seemed to pretty much hate me now too. **

"He'll get over it eventually."

**Oh, and his uncle Marcus? Yeah, possible serial killer. Almost forgot that part. **

"How could you almost forget that part?" David asked. "Mom, Dad, I do worry about her priorities sometimes"

"So do we," Helen mumbled. Even she worried that Suze thought Father Dom's and Tad's anger was more important than Marcus being a serial killer.

**But seriously, what was I supposed to do? I mean, I'd known perfectly well Father D wasn't going to be thrilled about Jess. And as for Tad, well, if my dad had ever drugged me stupid, I would totally want to know. **

"If Peter had even tried to drug Suzie I would have hacked him into tiny pieces with my nail scissors," Helen growled.

**I'd done the right thing telling Tad. **

"Just not tactfully," Andy said. Still glancing wryly at his wife who was still fuming.

**Except I did sort of wonder what was going to happen if Tad really did go ask his uncle Marcus what I'd meant about where his money came from. Marcus would probably think it was some obscure reference to Tad's father's mental illness. **

"Maybe...but that doesn't make much sense," David said.

**I hoped. **

"So do we," both Helen and Andy mumbled.

**Because if he figured out that I suspected the truth – you know, that whole thing about his killing anyone who stood in the way of Beaumont Industries gobbling up as much of the available property in northern California that it possibly could – I had a feeling he wasn't going to take too kindly to it. **

"She'd be joining Mrs Fiske for a ghostly tea."

"Urgh, don't say such things Brad."

**But how scared would a big-time player like Marcus Beaumont be of a sixteen-year-old schoolgirl? I mean, really. He had no idea about the whole mediator thing, how I'd actually spoken to one of his victims and confirmed the whole thing.**

"Which won't stand in court, so really he has absolutely nothing to be scared of," David said reasonably.

"Yes but could we take that risk?" Helen asked. "He might be shrewd enough to know what she meant and try to take her out."

"Nothing has happened in the past ten months, has it?"

"Not that we know of! We didn't know a single thing about Suze being trapped under the school roof, as far as we know she might have been kidnapped when we went away last September!"

"No, that time she nearly drowned," Jake muttered under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, Mom!"

**Well, more or less. **

**Still, in spite of all that, I did finally get to sleep. I was dreaming that Kelly Prescott had heard about Tad and me being at the Coffee Clutch together, and that she was threatening to veto the decision not to have a spring dance in revenge **

"What a stupid dream."

"You could talk Brad, Mr The-Giant-Hot-Dog-is-Gonna-Eat-Me."

"I ate a bad corndog! Leave me alone!"

"Jake, stop teasing your brother."

**When a soft **_**thud **_**woke me. I raised my head and squinted in the direction of the window seat. **

**Spike was back. And he had company. **

"Not another little furry monster, I hope."

**Jesse, I saw, was sitting next to Spike. To my utter amazement the cat was letting him pet him. That stupid cat who had tried to bite me every time I'd come near him was letting a ghost – his natural enemy – pet him.**

"It's a very strange monster, one that only Suze would end up with."

"Or maybe it just prefers male attention? Or maybe because his previous owner was dying he prefers death over the living?" David looked curious. "I'll have to ask Suze if I can experiment that one..."

"Just no blowing up the house," Andy said with his usual reminder.

**And what's more, Spike seemed to **_**like**_** it. He was purring so loud I could hear him all the way across the room.**

"**Whoa," I said, leaning up on my elbows. "**_**That **_**is one for **_**Ripley's Believe It or Not**_**."**

**Jesse grinned at me. "I think he likes me," he said. **

"**Don't get too attached. He can't stay here, you know."**

**I could have sworn Jesse looked crestfallen. "Why not?"**

"**Because Dopey's allergic, for one thing," I said. "And because I didn't even ask anyone if it was ok for me to have a cat."**

"It's scary," Andy said, "for once Suze is the voice of reason and Jesse isn't."

"It's rather adorable, isn't it?" Helen beamed. "His attachment to the cat, I mean. The turning Suze into the voice of reason just proves how good he is for her."

Jake and Brad just rolled their eyes. "That made no sense to me," Brad muttered to Jake.

"Nothing ever does."

"**It is your home now, as well as your brothers'," Jesse said with a shrug. **

"**Stepbrothers," I corrected him. I thought about what he said, then added, "And I guess I still feel like more of a guest here than an actual occupant."**

Helen looked a little crestfallen. "Remember dear, she only been living here for a few weeks at that point," Andy reminded her gently.

"**Give yourself a century or so." He grinned some more. "And you'll get over it."**

Everyone snorted.

"**Very funny," I said. "Besides, that cat hates me."**

"I doubt it. Spike lets her take care of him, that's saying something."

"**I'm sure he doesn't hate you," Jesse said. **

"**Yes he does. Every time I come near him, he tries to bite me."**

"**He just doesn't know you," Jesse said. "I will introduce you." He picked up the cat and pointed him in my direction. "Cat," he said. "This is Susannah. Susannah, meet the cat."**

Everyone burst out laughing at Jesse's introduction.

"**Spike" I said. **

"**I beg your pardon?"**

"**Spike. The cat's name is Spike."**

**Jesse put the cat down and looked at him in horror. "That is a terrible name for a cat."**

"True, it is more of a dog name than a cat name."

"**Yeah" I said. Then I added – strictly conversationally, if you know what I mean – "So I hear you met Father Dominic."**

"And suddenly the atmosphere changes..."

"The what?"

"Never mind Brad."

"No, seriously Jake. You're not supposed to use long words, that's Dave, not you. Don't go to the dark side!"

Jake and David exchanged worried looks about their brother's sanity.

**Jesse raised his gazed and let it rest expressionlessly on me. "Why didn't you tell him about me, Susannah?"**

**I swallowed. What do they do, teach guys that reproachful look at birth or something?**

"No, it comes with age and experience. Along with wisdom," Andy said sagely. Helen rolled her eyes causing the boys to snort.

**I mean, they all seem to have it down so pat. Except Dopey, that is. **

"Hey! I so can be reproachful!"

"Brad, do you even know what reproachful means?"

"...shut up, David."

"**Look," I said. "I **_**wanted**_** to. Only I knew he was going to freak out. I mean, he's a priest. I didn't figure he'd be too thrilled to hear that I've got a guy – even a dead guy – living in my bedroom." I tried to sound as concerned as I felt. "So, um, I take it you two didn't hit it off?"**

"Father Dominic probably went overprotective father on him," Brad said, in a strange moment of wisdom. "No guy likes that."

"**Between your father and the priest," Jesse said wryly, "I would take your father any time."**

Everyone winced. "He really does take his role in Suzie's life seriously," Helen said feeling touched.

"**Well," I said. "Don't worry about it. Tomorrow I'll just tell Father Dom about all the times you saved my life, and then he'll just have to deal."**

**He clearly didn't believe it was going to be that simple if the scowl that appeared on his face was any indication. The sad thing was, he was right. Father D wasn't going to be mollified that easily, and we both knew it. **

"He'll get over it."

"**Look." I threw back the covers and got up out of bed, padding over to the window seat in my boxers and t-shirt. "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry, Jesse. I should have told him sooner and introduced the two of you properly. It's my fault."**

"Very true."

"**It isn't your fault," Jesse said. **

"**Yes it is." I sat down next to him, making sure Jesse was between myself and the cat. "I mean, you may be dead, but I haven't got any right to treat you as if you were. That's just plain rude. Maybe what we can do is, you and me and Father Dom can all sit down and have lunch together or something and then he can see what a nice guy you really are."**

"Erm...isn't she forgetting one minor detail?" Andy asked.

"What detail?" Brad said confused.

"Jesse can't eat. He's dead...poor man, I don't know how I could survive not cooking proper gormount meals and enjoying them."

"We should probably warn Jesse to stay away for a while," Jake muttered to his brothers, "Dad's gonna stuff him with food every time he sees him now."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Brad asked.

"It means no food for us."

Brad and David looked horrified.

**Jesse looked at me like I was a mental case. "Susannah," he said. "I don't eat, remember?"**

"**Oh, yeah. I forgot."**

**Spike butted Jesse in the arm, and he lifted his hand and began scratching the cat's ears. I felt so bad for Jesse – I mean, think about it: he had been hanging around in that house for a **_**hundred and fifty years**_** before I'd gotten there, with no one to talk to, no one at all – that I suddenly blurted out, "Jesse, if there was any way I could make you not dead, I'd do it"**

"That was a little random..." Brad said.

"I still want to know how she did it though. This must be some sort of foreshadowing, if it was a best-seller novel," David said.

**He smiled, but at the cat, not at me. "Would you?"**

"**In a minute," I said, and then went on, with complete recklessness. "Except that if you weren't dead, you probably wouldn't want to hang out with me."**

"Argh! Tad has made her completely insecure." Helen groaned. "Now she'll constantly wonder if she's boring us."

**That made him look at me. He said, "Of course I would."**

"**No," I said, examining one of my bare knees in the moonlight. "You wouldn't. If you weren't dead, you'd be in college or something, and you'd want to hang around with college girls, and no boring high-school girls likes me."**

"Well sort of true...but he doesn't."

**Jesse said, "You aren't boring."**

"Yes she is!"

"Brad!"

"She never stops talking about the council or whatever good cause she's on. It's so boring, and she always has the ability to listen to David. Only boring people can do that!"

Everyone glared at Brad, David's was a little darker than the others. "You're very close to being back in that corner, young man," Andy said quietly.

Brad decided to try and stay quiet for the rest of the entry.

"**Oh, yes, I am," I assured him. "You've just been dead so long, you don't know it."**

"**Susannah," he said. "I know it, all right?"**

**I shrugged. "You don't have to try to make me feel better. It's ok. I've come to accept it. There are some things you just can't change."**

"**Like being dead," Jesse said quietly. **

"That was a mood killer," Jake muttered.

**Well, **_**that**_** certainly put a damper on things. I was feeling kind of depressed about everything – the fact that Jesse was dead, and that in spite of this, Spike still liked him better than me, and stuff like that – when all of a sudden Jesse reached out and took hold of my chin – almost exactly the way Tad had that night in his car – between his index finger and thumb and turned my face toward his. **

Helen leaned forward while the others looked revolted.

**And things suddenly started looking up. **

**Instead of collapsing in shock – my first instinct – I lifted my gaze to his face. The moonlight that had been filtering into my room through the bay windows was reflected in Jesse's soft dark eyes and I could feel the heat from his fingers coursing through me. **

"Ewww..." the boys moaned.

**That's when I realized that in spite of how hard I'd been trying to not fall in love with Jesse, I wasn't doing a very good job. I could tell this by the way my heart started thudding very hard against my t-shirt when he touched me. It hadn't done that when Tad had touched me in the exact same way.**

"Yes!" Helen cheered. "My baby has fallen in love with a decent young man."

"Who happens to be dead," Jake pointed out. "Your daughter has gotten into necrophilia, like Bella Swan."

Helen shot him a deadly glare. "Suze is nothing like that Twilight character, now let's continue before it gets too late and we're stuck here longer than planned," Andy said trying to keep the peace between his wife and eldest son.

**And I could also tell by the way I instantly started worrying about the fact that he had chosen this particular moment to kiss me, the middle of the night, when it had been hours since I'd brushed my teeth and I was sure I probably had morning breath. How appetizing was that?**

"Not very."

"Disgusting."

**But I never discovered whether or not Jesse would have been grossed out by my morning breath – or even if he'd really been going to kiss me at all – because at that moment that crazy woman who kept insisting Red hadn't killed her suddenly showed up again, shrieking her head off.**

"Urgh!"

"Not fair," Helen whined.

**I swear I nearly jumped a foot. She was the last person I'd been expecting to see.**

"**Oh, my God," I cried, slapping my hands over my ears as she let loose like some kind of smoke detector. "What's the matter?"**

**The woman had been wearing the hood of her grey sweatshirt. Now she pushed it back, and in the moonlight, I could see the tears that had made tracks down her thin pale cheeks. I couldn't believe I had mistaken her for Mrs Fiske. This woman was years and years younger, and a heck of a lot prettier. **

"Maybe Suze needs her eyes testing?"

"David!"

"It's just a suggestion! She might have eye sight problems that we're unaware of."

"**You didn't tell him," she said, between sobbing wails. **

"Err...yes she did."

**I blinked. "Yes, I did."**

"**You didn't!"**

"**No, I did, I really did." I was shocked by this unfair accusation. "I told him a couple of days ago. Jesse, tell her."**

"**She told him," Jesse assured the dead woman. **

**You would think one ghost would take the word of another. But she wasn't having any of it. She cried, "You **_**didn't**_**! And you've **_**got **_**to tell him. You've just**_** got**_** to. It's tearing him up inside."**

"I think Suze might have gotten the wrong Red," Andy said a little taken back.

"**Wait a minute," I said. "Red Beaumont**_** is**_** the Red you're talking about, right? Isn't he the one who killed you?"**

**She shook her head so hard, her hair smacked her cheeks and then stuck there, glued to her skin by her tears. "No," she said. "No! I told you Red **_**didn't **_**do it."**

"**Marcus, I mean," I amended quickly. "I know Red didn't do it. He just blames himself for it, right? That's what you want me to tell him. That it wasn't his fault. It was his brother; Marcus Beaumont, who killed you, wasn't it?"**

"**No!" she looked at me like I was a moron. And I was starting to feel like one.**

"Welcome to my world," Brad muttered.

"**Not Red **_**Beaumont**_**. Red. **_**Red! You know him.**_**"**

"What? Suzie doesn't know a Red, does she?" Helen said looking confused.

"No, no one in our class is called Red, but then I don't know the Geeks well enough," Brad said frowning.

"The only person that Suze might know is David," Jake said, "Mom used to call him Red all..." Jake trailed off at the sight of David's expression. It was a mix of pain and grieve and anger. "Oh God... that's Mom. Mom has talked to Suze, hasn't she?"

Andy leaned forward and touched David's shoulder. "Dave?" he murmured.

"Yeah...it's Mom," David murmured, tears starting to spill. "Suze told me that day she bunked off school."

"Oh, darling," Helen whispered. "She wouldn't have blamed you, you know that don't you?"

"Now..."

"Lets..." Brad swallowed. "Let's keep reading..."

**I know him? I know someone named Red? Not in this life.**

"**Look," I said. "I need a little more info than that. Why don't we start with introductions. I'm Susannah Simon, ok? And you are...?"**

**The look she gave me would have broken the heart of even the coldest mediator.**

Everyone flinched and more tears fell down David's face.

"**You **_**know**_**," she said with an expression so wounded, I had to look away. "You **_**know**_**..."**

**And then, when I risked another glance in her direction, she was gone again. **

"**Um," I said, uncomfortably, to Jesse. "I guess I got the wrong Red."**

"Really? I wouldn't have guessed." Brad said sarcastically.


	17. Chapter 17

Andy took the book off from David; he looked down at it and sighed. "All three of you do realise that we did what we had to do. Don't you? Your mother was dying in a painful way and we did the kindest thing...it's not any of your fault."

"I..." David swallowed. "I just feel that since I had such a high intellect, I should have been able to save her."

"Dave..." Andy whispered. "You're just a kid; even the greatest minds haven't found a proper cure."

"I know...but that's just how I feel."

"Why you?" Brad asked. "Why didn't she pass on a message to us to? Why did it have to be just you?"

David shrugged. "Maybe she knew I would believe Suze more than you two."

"Or maybe we just don't feel as guilty," Jake added. There was a moment of silence where everyone avoided looking at each other. "Let's...let's get this over with, yeah?" Jake said.

Andy began to read.

**Ok, I admit it: I wasn't happy. **

"We aren't either," Brad scowled.

**I mean, seriously. I had invested all that time and effort in Red Beaumont, and he hadn't even been the right guy.**

"Yeah, that is a bit of a bummer," Jake murmured.

**Ok, yea, so he – or his brother; my money was on his brother – had apparently killed a bunch of people, but I'd stumbled over this fact completely by accident. The ghost who'd originally come to me for help didn't have anything to do with Red Beaumont or even his brother; Marcus. Her message remained undelivered because I couldn't figure out who she was, even though, apparently, I knew her. **

**And meanwhile, Mrs Fiske's killer was still walking around free. **

**And as if all of that weren't enough, my midnight caller showing up the way she did had completely killed the mood between Jesse and me. He so totally did not kiss me after that. In fact, he acted like he'd never intended to kiss me in the first place, which, considering my luck, is probably the truth. Instead, he asked how my poison oak was progressing.**

Helen couldn't bring herself to express her disappointment in Jesse. It just wasn't the right time really. Everyone was rather down.

"It's not that big of a deal!" Brad snapped. "So he doesn't kiss her, who cares? Right now Mom is upset."

**My poison oak! Yeah, thanks, it's great.**

**God, I am such a loser. **

"Yes, she is."

**But you know, I pretended like I didn't care. I got up the next morning and acted like nothing had happened. I put on my best butt-kicking outfit – my black Betsey Johnson miniskirt with black ribbed tights, side-zip Batgirl boots and purple Armani sweater set **

Brad couldn't help but twitch his lips. Suze looked hilarious that day.

– **And strutted around my room like al I was thinking about was how I was going to bring Marcus Beaumont to justice. The last thing on my mind, I pretended, was Jesse.**

Everyone snorted.

**Not like he noticed. He wasn't even around.**

**But all my strutting around had made me late, and Sleepy was standing at the bottom of the stairs bellowing my name, so even if he'd wanted to, it wouldn't have been such a good thing for Jesse to materialize just then anyway.**

**I grabbed my leather jacket and came pounding down the stairs to where Andy was standing shelling out lunch money to each of us as we came by. **

"**My goodness, Suze," he said when he saw me. **

"I was very taken back," Andy said at Helen's questioning look.

"_**What**_**?" I demanded defensively. **

"**Nothing," he said quickly. "Here."**

"And she might have frightened me a little. She's a lot like you, honey."

**I plucked the five-dollar bill from his hand and, casting him one last, curious glance, followed Doc down to the car. When I got there, Dopey took one look at me and let out a howl.**

Brad shrunk slightly under Helen's and Andy's glares. "She looked weird!" he shouted out his defence.

"**Oh, my God," he cried, pointing at me. "Run for your lives!"**

**I narrowed my eyes at him.**

"**Do you have a problem?" I asked him coldly. **

"**Yeah, I do," he sneered at me. "I didn't know it was Hallowe'en."**

**Doc said knowingly, "It isn't Hallowe'en, Brad. Hallowe'en isn't for another two hundred and seventy-nine days."**

"Dave, Brad was just making a bad joke," Jake said.

"**Tell that to the Queen of the Undead," Dopey said. **

Andy and Helen glared at Brad. He felt himself get smaller and smaller under the dark looks of his parents. "It was just a joke!" he squawked.

"Not a funny one," Helen said coolly.

"I found it rather cruel," Andy said.

**I don't know what made me do it. I was in a bad mood, I guess. Everything that had happened the night before, from stabbing Mr Beaumont to finding out I'd had the wrong man all along – not to mention my discovery that my feelings about Jesse weren't exactly what I'd have liked them to be – came back to me.**

**And the next thing I knew, I'd turned around and sunk my fist into Dopey's stomach. **

The glares lessened much to Brad's relieve. "I admit that was an overreaction," Andy muttered as he remembered Suze's protests when he grounded her for punching his son.

**He let out a groan and pitched forwards, then sprawled out into the grass, gasping for air. **

**Ok, I admit it. I felt bad. I shouldn't have done it. **

Brad gasped. "She actually admits it?"

"Nice enough she's mature to admit she was wrong but it would be nicer if she was mature enough to ignore the comment," Helen murmured.

**But still. What a baby. I mean, seriously. He's on the wrestling team. What are they teaching these wrestlers anyway? Clearly not how to take a punch.**

"She punches worse than boxers!" Brad protested at his brothers' snickers.

"**Whoa," Sleepy said when he noticed that Dopey was on the ground. "What the hell happened to you?"**

**Dopey pointed at me, trying to say my name. But all that came out were gasps. **

"**Aw, Jesus," Sleepy said, looking at me disgustedly. **

"It was more to do with what she was wearing than the fact she punched Brad. In fact I wanted to praise her for that."

"Hey!"

"What? Face it, you're an asshole."

"Jake, language. I like to think I raised polite young men."

"**He called me," I said with all the dignity I could muster, "the Queen of the Undead."**

**Sleepy said, "Well, what do you expect him to say? You look like a hooker.**

"What?" Jake exclaimed under Helen's glare. "She did! And I didn't want any boys looking at my little sis like that."

"Oh, that is so sweet of you," Helen said as her glare softened into an affection glance.

"Suck up," Brad muttered.

**Sister Ernestine's going to send you home if she sees you in that skirt."**

"Which she did."

**I sucked in my breath, outraged. "This skirt," I said, "happens to be by Betsey Johnson."**

"**I don't care if it's by Betsy Ross. And neither will Sister Ernestine. Come on, Brad, get up. We're going to be late."**

**Brad got up with elaborate care, as if every movement was causing him excruciating pain. Sleepy didn't look as if he felt too sorry for him. "I told you not to mess with her, sport," was all he said as he slid behind the wheel. **

"And I continue in telling you so but you still upset her," Jake said sternly.

"She is just as bad as me," Brad said stubbornly. His chin was held up with an equally stubborn determination to argue his right to pick on Suze. No one could be bothered in lecturing him. They were bound to do so soon anyway.

"**She sucker-punched me, man," Brad whined. "She can't get away with that."**

"**Actually," Doc said pleasantly, as he climbed into the back seat and fastened his seat belt, "She can. while statistics concerning domestic violence are always difficult to obtain due to low reportage, incidents in which females batter male family members are reported even less, as the victims are almost always too embarrassed to tell members of law enforcement that they have, in fact, been beaten by a woman."**

"**Well, I'm not embarrassed," Dopey declared. "I'm telling Dad as soon as we get home."**

"I raised a whiney child," Andy mumbled.

"Dad!"

"See, you're whining Bradley. It's not an attractive trait in anyone."

"**Go ahead," I said acidly. I was in a really bad mood. "He's just going to ground you again when I tell him you went ahead and snuck out that night of Kelly Prescott's pool party."**

Andy looked at Brad's red face. "Do remember your lovely sister never told me this and now I know you will most definitely be grounded for it."

Brad grumbled darkly. Even though they seen Suze at her worse they still thought of her as the victim compared to him. It wasn't fair but at least Suze was definitely getting grounded along with him for her own secrets and sneaking outs.

"**I did not," he practically screamed in my face. **

"**Then how is it," I inquired, "that I saw you in her pool house giving Debbie Mancuso's tongue a Jiffy Lube?"**

**Even Sleepy hooted at that one. **

**Dopey, completely red with embarrassment, looked as if he might start crying. I licked my finger and made a little slashing motion in the air as if I were writing on a scoreboard. Suze, one. Dopey, zero. **

**But Dopey unfortunately, was the one who has the last laugh.**

Brad snickered.

**We were approaching our lines for Assembly – they seriously make every single grade stand outside the school in these lines separated by sex, boys on one side, girls on the other, for fifteen minutes before class officially starts, so they can take attendance and read announcements – when Sister Ernestine blew her whistle at me, and signalled for me to come over to her, where she was standing by the flagpole. **

**Fortunately, she did this in front of the entire sophomore class – not th mention the freshmen – so that every single one of my peers had the privilege of seeing me get bawled out by a nun for wearing a miniskirt to school. **

Helen let out a hiss of fury.

"She should have spoken to her privately and sent her home after calling one of us," Andy said unimpressed with the nun's actions. "Not embarrassed her in front of everyone."

"The humiliation works though," David pointed out, "Suze has never worn a mini-skirt to school since."

"I know but such displays in front of students can cause the student being humiliated to be bullied. I am disgusted to say that Brad looks like he was one of them."

"I never bullied Suze about her skirt after she punched me," Brad scowled. He had been telling the truth, Suze gave him far more ammunition from other fiascos like dating that Michael dude. "And no one actually had a go at her about it."

"Probably too frightened," Jake muttered.

**The upshot of it all was that Sister Ernestine said I had to go home and change.**

**Oh, I argued. I insisted that a society that valued it's members solely for their outward appearance was a society destined for destruction, which was a line I'd heard Doc use a few days earlier when she'd busted him for wearing Levis – there's a strict anti-jeans rule at the Academy.**

David beamed with pride that Suze actually really did listen to him. He knew she was his favourite sibling for a reason. Meanwhile his parents and Jake inwardly smiled, happy to see David smile properly for the first time in a long time.

**But Sister Ernestine didn't go for it. She informed me that I could go home and change, or I could sit in her office and help grade the second graders' maths quizzes until my mother arrived with a pair of slacks for me.**

"I wish she did," Helen muttered, "that way Suze wouldn't have come home in a police car."

Andy looked at her with a mix of horror and realisation. "Honey...the police brought Suze home from the Beaumonts."

"Oh, God."

**Oh, that wouldn't be **_**too**_** embarrassing.**

**Given the alternative, I elected to go home and change – although I argued strenuously on behalf of Ms Johnson and her designs. A skirt, however, with a hem higher than three inches above the knee is not considered appropriate Academy attire. And my skirt, unfortunately, was more than four inches above my knees. I know because Sister Ernestine took out a ruler and showed me. And the rest of the sophomore class as well.**

"I'm going to make several complaints about that woman," Andy muttered disgustedly.

**And so it was that, with a wave to Cee Cee and Adam, who were leading the class's shouts of encouragement to me – which fortunately drowned out the catcalls Dopey and his friends were making – **

Jake glared at his younger brother. "You encouraged boys to look at our sister!" he snarled.

"She asked for it!" Brad defended himself.

"You are a terrible older brother," Jake growled.

**I shouldered my backpack and left the school grounds. I had, of course, to walk home, since I could not face the indignity of calling Andy for a ride, and I still hadn't figured out whether or not there was such a thing as public transportation in Carmel. **

Andy couldn't help but chuckle.

**I wasn't too deeply bummed. After all, what had I had to look forward to? Oh, just Father Dominic reaming me out for not telling him about Jesse. I could, I suppose, have distracted him by telling him how wrong he's been about Tad's dad being a vampire – he just **_**thinks**_** he's one – and what Cee Cee had discovered about his brother, Marcus. That certainly would have gotten him off my back...for a little while anyway. **

**But then what? So a couple of environmentalists were missing? That didn't prove anything. So a dead lady told me a Mr Beaumont had killed her? Oh, yeah, that'd stand up in court, all right.**

**Not a lot to go on. We had, in fact, nothing. Nada. Zilch.**

**Which was what I was feeling like as I strolled along. A big miniskirted zero.**

Brad's snickers were silenced by glares from his parents.

**As if whoever was in charge of the weather agreed with me about my loser status, it was sort of raining. It was foggy every morning along the coast in northern California. The fog rolled in from the sea and sat in the bay until the sun burned it all off. **

**But this morning, on top of the fog, there was this light drizzle coming down. It wasn't so bad at first, but I hadn't gotten further than the school gates before my hair started curling up. After all the time I'd spent that morning straightening it. I didn't, of course, have an umbrella. Nor, it seemed, did I have much choice. I was going to be a drenched, curly-haired freak by the time I walked the two miles – mostly uphill – to the house, and that was the end of it. **

"I think her waves look lovely," Helen murmured.

**Or so I thought. Because as I was passing the school gates, a car pulling in between them slowed. **

"I don't like the sound of this," Andy said quietly.

**It was a nice car. It was an expensive car. It was a black car with smoked windows. As I looked at it one of those windows lowered and a familiar face peered out at me from the backseat. **

"I really don't like the sound of this."

"**Miss Simon," Marcus Beaumont said pleasantly. "Just the person I was looking for. May I have a word?"**

"Oh sweet Jesus," Jake cried out knowing it was the closest to cursing he could get away with. "That idiot was actually smart enough to tip off his murdering uncle!"

Helen clutched her chest. "No," she moaned, "and we grounded her for being kidnapped? I'm a terrible mother."

Andy wrapped an arm round her. "No you're not. We didn't know about this and I was the one that grounded her, remember?"

Helen buried herself into Andy's shoulder. She really didn't want to hear more of this right now. Her baby was going to get hurt, she just knew it! And what's worse she couldn't remember seeing any bruises or cuts or anything on Suze after the police brought her home. Did she hide them, from her?

**And he opened the passenger door invitingly, beckoning for me to come in out of the rain. **

**Every single one of my mediator neurons fired at once. Danger, they screamed. Run for it, they shrieked. **

"Yes, please do," Helen mumbled.

**I couldn't believe it. Tad had done it. Tad had asked his uncle what I'd meant.**

**And Marcus, instead of shrugging it off, had come here to my school in a car with smoked windows to 'have a word' with me. **

**I was dead meat. **

**But before I had a chance to spin around and hightail back into school, where I knew I'd be safe, the passenger doors of Marcus Beaumont's sedan sprang open and these two guys came at me.**

"Oh, God!"

**Let me just say in my defence that deep down, I never thought Tad would have the guts to do it. I mean. Tad seemed like a nice enough guy, and God knew he was a great kisser, but he didn't seem to be the sharpest knife in the drawer, if you know what I mean. This, I imagine is why a girl like Kelly Prescott would find him so appealing: Kelly's used to being the Wusthof. She doesn't welcome competition in that capacity. **

"Then she should have gone for Brad instead of Jake," David said.

"Hey, Jake isn't that much smarter than me!"

"I know which one is my favourite brother here."

"Boys, not now."

**But I had obviously underestimated Tad. Not only had he gone to his uncle as I suggested, but he'd evidently managed to raise Marcus's suspicions that I knew more than I'd let on.**

**Way more if the two thugs who were circling me, cutting off any possible chance at escape, were any indication.**

**My option for flight pretty much voided by these two clowns, I saw that I was going to have to fight. I do not consider myself a slouch in the fighting department. I actually kind of like it, if you haven't figured that out already. Of course, usually I'm fighting ghosts, and no live human beings. But if you think about it, there's not really that much of a difference. I mean, nasal cartilage is nasal cartilage. I was willing to give it a go.**

**This seemed to come as something of a surprise to Marcus's flunkies. A couple of thickset frat boys who looked as if they were better used to pounding brewskies than people, they were out to impress the boss in a big way.**

**At least until I threw down my book bag, hooked my foot behind the knee of one them, and brought him down with a ground-shaking thud to the wet asphalt. **

**While Thug #1 lay there staring up at the overcast sky with a surprised look on his face, I got in an excellent kick to Thug #2. He was too tall for me to get him in the nose but I knocked the wind out of him by applying my three-inch heel to his rib cage. That had to have hurt, let me tell you. He went spinning around, lost his balance, and hit the ground. **

Jake, Andy and David shared a proud look at the fact Suze can defend herself extremely well. Helen, however, was moaning in fear of her daughter getting too cocky and getting hurt while Brad was trying to not show how impressed he was.

**Amateur. **

**Marcus got out of the car then. He stood with the rain beating down on his fluffy blond hair and went, "You idiot," to Thug #2.**

**He was right to be upset, if you think about it. I mean, he hired these guys to roust me, and they were doing a thoroughly bad job of it. It just goes to show you can't get good help any more. **

**You would think that, with all this going on in front of a pretty popular tourist destination like the Mission – not to mention a **_**school**_** – somebody would have noticed and phoned the cops. You would think that, wouldn't you?**

"Yes, you would," Andy frowned. He had always thought that he had chosen a safe place for his children to grow up in but now it scared him that a mafia type can kidnap his stepdaughter without anyone trying to stop him.

**But if you're thinking that, you obviously haven't been in California when it was raining out. I'm not kidding; it's like New York City on New Year's Eve: only the tourists venture outside. Everyone else stays inside and waits until it's safe to come out. **

**Oh, a couple of cars whizzed by going fifty miles an hour in a twenty-mile-per-hour zone. I was hoping one of them would notice us and decide that two guys on one girl wasn't quite playing fair – even if the girl did look a bit like a hooker. **

**But our little tussle went on for a surprisingly long time before Marcus – who'd apparently realized what his thugs haven't, that I wasn't exactly your typical Catholic schoolgirl – **

"She's not even Catholic, idiots," Brad muttered.

**Cut the whole thing short by laying me out with a totally unfair right to the chin.**

Everyone let out a sharp hiss.

**I didn't even see him coming. What with the rain and all, my hair was getting plastered to my face, obscuring my peripheral vision. I'd been concentrating on applying a knee to Thug #1's groin – it had been a bad idea, his decision to get up again – while keeping my eye on Thug #2, who kept grabbing for handfuls of my hair – he had obviously gone to the Dopey school of fighting – **

"Hey! I'm a good fighter," Brad said defensively.

"You were on the floor crying because she punched you," Jake deadpanned.

"Shuddup!"

**And hadn't even noticed that Marcus was heading my way. **

**But suddenly, a heavy hand landed on my shoulder and spun me around. A second later, an explosion sounded in my head. The world tilted sickeningly, and I felt myself stumble. Next thing I knew, I was inside the car, and brakes were squealing. **

"Shit!" Jake and Andy swore.

David looked a little scared and Brad swallowed loudly while Helen just moaned even louder.

"**Ow," I said when the stars I'd been seeing had receded enough for me to speak. I reached up and touched my jaw. None of my teeth felt loose, but I was definitely going to have a bruise that there wasn't enough Clinique in the world to cover up. "What'd you have to him me so hard for?"**

**Marcus just blinked at me expressionlessly from where he sat on the seat beside me. Thug #1 was driving and Thug #2 sat beside him in the front seat. Judging from the backs of their extremely thick necks, they were unhappy. It couldn't have been too pleasant sitting there with all those various body parts throbbing with pain, in wet, muddy clothes. My leather jacket had fortunately protected me from the worst of the rain. My hair, however, was undoubtedly a lost cause. **

The boys rolled their eyes at the hair comment.

**We were going fast down the highway. Water sluiced on either side of us as we barrelled through what had become a steady downpour. There wasn't a soul on the highway but us. I tell you, you've never seen people as scared of a little bit of rain as native Californians. Earthquakes? They're nothing. But a hint of drizzle and its head-between-the-knees time. **

Andy couldn't help but snort. He had to hand it to his stepdaughter she was a witty woman.

"**Look," I said. "I think you should know something. My mother is a reported for WCAL in Monterey, and if anything happens to me, she is going to be all over you like ants on a Jolly Rancher."**

"I'll use my nail scissors on him," Helen said darkly.

**Marcus was clearly bored by my posturing, pulled back his coat sleeve and looked at his Rolex. "She won't," he said, tonelessly. "No one knows where you are. It was quite fortuitous, your leaving the school at the very moment we were pulling up to it. Did another one of your **_**ghosts**_**-" he said the word with a sarcasm I suppose he found scathing – "warn you that we were coming?"**

"I wouldn't joke about those ghosts," David said calmly. "I bet ten dollars that Jesse helps rescue her."

"You're on," Brad said.

"No betting," Andy snapped.

**Scowling, I muttered, "Not exactly." No way was I going to tell him I'd been sent home for violating the school dress code. I'd been humiliated enough for one day.**

"And she would never show herself vulnerable to someone."

"**Just what were **_**you**_** doing there anyway?" I demanded. "I mean, were you just going to stroll in and yank me out of class at gunpoint in front of everyone?"**

"He's more subtle than that," Helen said, shaking her head at her daughter's wild imagination.

"**Certainly not," Marcus said calmly. **

**What I was hoping was that somebody – anybody – had seen Marcus slug me and had taken down the licence number of his expensive Euro-trash car. Any minute sirens might begin to wail behind us. The **_**cops**_** couldn't be afraid of a little rain – although to tell the truth, I don't remember **_**CHiPs **_**Officers Ponch and Jon ever venturing out in a downpour...**

"TV only shows rain for dramatic effect though," David said.

**Keep him talking, I told myself. If he's talking, he won't be able to concentrate on killing you. **

"Good girl."

"What is she, a dog?"

"Don't be crude Brad or I'll put you in the corner and never let you out."

"**So what was the plan, then?"**

"**If you must know, I was going to go to the principal and inform him that Beaumont Industries was interested in sponsoring a student's tuition for the year, and that you were one of our finalists." Marcus picked some invisible lint of his trouser leg. "We would, of course, require a personal interview, after which we intended to take you – the candidate – to a celebratory lunch."**

"I wouldn't have believed it," Helen said, "not when David has more chance of winning a scholarship than Suze."

**I rolled my eyes. The idea of me winning any kind of scholarship was laughable. This guy obviously hadn't seen my latest Geometry quiz scores. **

David groaned. "It was a nightmare tutoring her. She just doesn't seem to understand the subject."

"**Father Dominic would never have let me go with you," I said. Especially, I thought after I'd filled him in on what had gone on at chez Beaumont the night before. **

"If he did then not even God would protect him from me," Helen declared.

"**Oh, I think he might have. I was planning on making a sizeable donation to his little mission."**

"The monsignor or Sister Ernestine maybe," Jake muttered, "but not Father D."

**I had to laugh at that one. This guy obviously didn't know Father D at all. **

"**I don't think so," I said. "And even if he did, don't you think he would mention how the last time he saw me, I was going off in a car with you? If the cops should happen to question him, you know, after I disappeared, that is."**

**Marcus said, "Oh, you're not going to disappear, Miss Simon."**

**This surprised me. "I'm not?" then what was all this about?**

"**Oh, no," Marcus assured me confidently. "There won't be the slightest question about what's happened to you. Your corpse is going to be found rather quickly, I imagine."**

Helen shuddered violently. "We've got to read this next one quickly. I need to know that she got out safely."

David stood up and went over to Helen, he then sat down next to her and hugged her tightly allowing her to mother him a little. "Don't worry Mom," he whispered. "You know she gets out safe. You know that she caused more trouble and you know she's out on a date with Jesse right now. Whatever this man has planned it never succeeded."

Helen hugged him back just as tightly. "You're such a good boy," she murmured. "Thank you, sweetie."


	18. Chapter 18

_Author's Note: in university we have learnt about Text and Intertextuality (to us dirty teenagers we all thought it was Sex and Sexuality and needed to clean our ears out), the basic principal is that no text is original and there is always quotations of other great authors. I used this to my advantage while writing Helen's response, if you can spot a pre-20__th__ century quote written by one of the greatest female authors, then you'll get a brownie. _

"I don't think I can read this," Helen mumbled when Andy offered the book to her. "My hands are shaking," she held up her hands to prove her point. The boys grimaced and looked sympathetic as her small hands were trembling.

"I'll read it then, sweetheart," Andy said softly. "Then Jake will read after me and we'll return to normal routine after my next go." Helen nodded and curled up close to her husband, one of her shaky hands taking hold of his arm for something to hold. Andy cleared his throat and began to read.

**This was so not what I wanted to hear, I can't even tell you. **

"It's not exactly what I wanted to hear either!" Helen snapped.

"**Look," I said quickly. "I think you should know that I left a letter with a friend of mine. If anything happens to me, she's supposed to go to the cops and give it to them."**

"Nice bluff," Jake said.

David shook his head. "Bit too obvious and cliché, isn't that how all the movies go?"

**I smiled sunnily at him. Of course, it was all a big fat lie, but he didn't know that.**

**Or maybe he did. **

"**I don't think so," he said politely. **

Helen moaned and clung tighter to Andy. Her baby is stuck with a mastermind criminal, how on earth did she get out of that one?

**I shrugged, pretending I didn't care. "Your funeral."**

"**You really," Marcus said, as I was busy straining my ears for sirens, "oughtn't to have tipped off the boy. That was your first mistake, you know."**

"Tell us about it," Brad rolled his eyes.

"Oh come on, you'd make the same mistake too if you were provoked," David snorted.

"Would not!"

"I am not going to even lower myself into having a childish argument with you."

"David, be nice to your older brother," Andy said.

**Didn't I know it. **

"**Well," I said. "I thought he had a right to know what his own father was up to."**

**Marcus looked a little disappointed in me. "I didn't mean that," he said, and there was just a hint of contempt in his voice. **

"Look on the bright side, Mom, mastermind criminals find Suze so intimidating and have high expectations of her intelligence."

Helen moaned louder.

"David, stop upsetting your mother!"

"**What, then?" I opened my eyes as wide as they would go. Little Miss Innocent. **

Everyone but Helen snorted.

"**I wasn't certain you knew about me, of course," Marcus went on, almost amiably. "Not until you tried to run back there, in front of the school. That, of course, was your second mistake. Your evident fear of me was a dead giveaway. Because then there was no question that you knew more than was good for you."**

"Really? That's what gave her away? She had other reasons to run from him because of her 'prank'" David said.

"**Yeah, but look," I said, in my most reasonable voice. "What was it you said last night? Who's going to believe the word of a sixteen-year-old juvenile delinquent like myself over a big important businessman like you? I mean, please. You're friends with the governor, for crying out loud."**

"She's just confirmed his believe," Jake said shaking his head.

"**And your mother," Marcus reminded me, "is a reporter with WCAL, as you pointed out."**

Helen moaned even louder. "It's my fault my baby is in danger!"

"Don't worry sweetheart, Suze gets out of this alive, we know this," Andy said soothingly as he rubbed circles on his wife's back. Helen had buried her head into his chest and therefore didn't notice how pale and grim Andy looked.

**Me and my big mouth.**

**The car, which had showed no signs of slowing down up until that point, started rounding a curve in the road. We were, I realized suddenly, on Seventeen Mile Drive.**

**I didn't even think about what I was doing. I just reached for the door handle, and the next thing I knew, a guard rail was looming at me, and rainwater and gravel were splashing up into my face. **

Helen let out a half shriek. She wanted to scold Suze was putting herself in danger of a road accident or falling off a cliff and then she remembered that Suze was trying to escape being murdered. Oh her poor nerves!

**But instead of rolling out of the car and up against that guard rail – below which I could see the rolling waves of the Restless Sea crashing against the boulders that rested at the bottom of the cliff we were on – I stayed where I was. That was because Marcus grabbed the back of my leather jacket and wouldn't let go. **

"**Not so fast," he said, trying to haul me back into the seat. **

**I wasn't giving up so easily though. I twisted around – quite nimble in my Lycra skirt – and tried to slam my boot hell into his face. Unfortunately, Marcus' reflexes were as good as mine since he caught my foot and twisted it painfully. **

"**Hey," I yelled. "That hurt!"**

**But Marcus just laughed and clocked me again. **

"Bastard!"

Andy did not scold his sons for swearing since privately he was agreeing with them on this...and he wanted to say it himself.

**Let me tell you, that didn't feel so swell. For a minute or so, I couldn't see too straight. It was during this moment that it took for my vision to adjust that Marcus closed the passenger door, which had continued to yawn open, stowed me back into my place and buckled me safely in. when my eyeballs finally settled back into their sockets, I looked down and saw that he was keeping a firm hold on me, primarily by clutching a handful of my sweater set. **

"**Hello," I said feebly. "That's cashmere, you know."**

**Marcus said, "I will release you if you promise to be reasonable."**

"She's being perfectly reasonable in trying to escape from a guy like you!" David cried out.

"**I think it's perfectly reasonable," I said, "to try to escape from a guy like you."**

"Oh god, I don't know what's worse – another Suze or another David," Brad muttered to Jake.

"Shut up Brad."

**Marcus didn't look very impressed by my sensible take on the matter. **

"**You can't possibly imagine that I'm going to let you go," he said. "I've got damage control to worry about. I mean, I can't have you going around telling people about my, err...unique problem-solving techniques."**

The boys snorted. "Unique, right," Jake muttered darkly.

"**There's nothing very unique," I informed him, "about murder."**

"That depends, although there is nothing original about murder and we hear reports on it daily, serial killers like Marcus, although very clichéd are in f-"

"David, not now!" Andy snapped as Helen turned a new shade of white.

**Marcus said, as if I hadn't spoken, "Historically, you understand, there have always been an ignorant few who have insisted upon standing in the way of progress. These are the people I was forced to...relocate."**

"Where to, Florida?" Brad snorted.

"**Yeah," I said. "To their graves."**

**Marcus shrugged. "Unfortunate, certainly, but nevertheless necessary. Still, in order for us to advance as a civilization, sacrifices must occasionally be made by a select few-"**

"Sacrifice!" Jake hissed. "Sacrificing their believes because the court of law ruled against them. That's fine. Sacrificing their life because you decided to? You sick twisted bastard!"

Brad stared at Jake dumbly. "I didn't know you're studying law."

"I'm not."

"Then why are you so..." he struggled to find something nice to describe Jake's outburst, "so weird about this." He failed.

"Because I enjoy to surf and one day if Marcus Beaumont gets his way, the sea would be ruined," Jake said calmly. "Continue reading Dad, before I get tempted to hit this idiot on the head."

"Hey!"

"Jake, be nice, Brad, be quiet," Andy said before returning to the book.

"**I doubt Mrs Fiske agrees with who you selected to be sacrificed," I interrupted. **

"**What may appear to one party to be improvement may appear to another to be wanton destruction-"**

"**Like the annihilation of our natural coastline by money-grubbing parasites like yourself?"**

"Go Suze!"

**Well, he'd already said he was going to kill me. I didn't figure it mattered whether or not I was polite to him. **

Helen let out another moan. What if Suze's rudeness makes him try to kill Suze in a more painful way?

"**And so for progress – real progress," he went on, as if he hadn't even heard me, "to be made, some simply have to do without."**

"**Without their **_**lives**_**?" I glared at him. "Dude, let me tell you something. You know your brother, the wannabe-vampire? You are every bit as sick as he is."**

**The car, right at that moment, pulled into the driveway of Mr Beaumont's house. The guard at the gate waved to as we went by, though he couldn't see me through the tinted windows. He probably had no idea that inside his boss's car was a teenage girl who was about to be executed. No one – **_**no one**_** – I realized, knew where I was: not my mother, not Father Dominic, not Jesse – not even my dad. **

"Oh god, that must have been terrifying for her!" Helen whimpered. "My poor baby!"

"Maybe we should get a tracker on her," Andy muttered. If this was the trouble Suze got up to in her first month here he was dreading what the rest and the future will be like.

**I had no idea what Marcus had planned for me, but whatever it was, I suspected I wasn't going to like it very much...especially if it got me where it had gotten Mrs Fiske. **

**Which I was beginning to think it probably would. **

**The car pulled to a halt. Marcus's fingers bit into my upper arm. **

"**Come on," he said, and he started dragging me across the seat towards his side of the car and the open passenger door. **

"**Wait a minute," I said, in a last ditch effort to convince him that I could be perfectly reasonable given the right incentive – for instance, being killed. "What if I promised not to tell anyone?"**

"Like that would work," Brad snorted.

"**You already have told someone," Marcus reminded me. "My nephew, Tad, remember?"**

"Yes but he's an idiot, like Brad!" Jake protested.

"Hey!"

"That's the problem. Tad wouldn't know when to keep his mouth shut because there's no brain there," David pointed out.

"Hey!"

"**Tad won't tell anyone. He can't. He's related to you. he's not allowed to testify against his own relatives in court, or something." my head was still kind of wobbly from the smack Marcus had given me, so I wasn't at my most lucid. Nevertheless, I tried my best to reason with him. "Tad is a super secret keeper."**

"**The dead," Marcus reminded me, "usually are."**

"THAT SICK BASTARD IS TRYING TO KILL HIS NEPHEW AS WELL?"

**If I hadn't been scared before – and I most definitely had been – I was super scared now. What did he mean by that? Did he mean...did he mean Tad wouldn't talk because he'd be dead? This guy was going to kill his own nephew? Because of what **_**I'd**_** told him?**

"My poor baby has been kidnapped by a complete sociopath!" Helen cried.

**I couldn't let that happen. I had no idea what Marcus intended to do with me, but one thing I knew for sure:**

**He wasn't going to lay a finger on my boyfriend. **

The boys groaned.

"He's not her boyfriend, they had coffee, Jesse interrupted their kiss, she tried to kill his dad, and he thought she was boring. That is literally all their relationship was," Jake said.

"I was under the impression she didn't care for him enough to think of him as a boyfriend," David added.

"How desperate is she?" Brad chipped in.

**Although at that particular moment, I had no idea how I was going to prevent him from doing so. **

**As Marcus yanked on me, I said to his thugs, "I just want to thank you guys for helping me out. You know considering I'm a defenceless young girl and this guy is a cold-blooded killer, and all. Really. You've been great-"**

"I doubt they have the brains to have a morals," David muttered**. **

**Marcus gave me a jerk and I came flying out of the car towards him. **

"**Whoa," I said, when I'd found my feet. "What's with the rough stuff?"**

"**I'm not taking any chances," Marcus said, keeping his iron grip on my arm as he dragged me towards the front door of the house. "You've proved a good deal more trouble than I ever anticipated."**

"Ha, take that!"

**Before I had time to digest this compliment, Marcus had hauled me into the house while behind us the thugs got out of the car and followed along...just in case, I suppose, I suddenly broke free and tried to pull a **_**La Femme Nikita**_**-type escape.**

Brad snorted.

**Inside the Beaumonts' house – from what I could see given the speed with which Marcus was dragging me around – things were much the same as they'd been the last time I'd visited. There was no sing of Mr Beaumont – he was probably in bed recovering from my brutal attack on him the night before. Poor thing, if I had known it was Marcus who was the bloodsucking parasite and not his brother, I'd have shown the old guy a little compassion. **

"Yes, that poor man must be really hurt," Andy agreed. Especially if Marcus was messing around with Mr Beaumont's medication.

**Which reminded me. **

"**What about Tad?" I asked as Marcus steered me across the patio, where rain was pattering into the pool, making hundreds of little splashes and thousands of ripples. "Where've you got him locked up?"**

"**You'll see," Marcus assured me as he pulled me into the little corridor where the elevator to Mr Beaumont's office sat. **

"I knew I didn't like that office," Helen mumbled.

**He threw open the elevator door and pushed me inside the little moving room, then joined me there. His thugs took up positions in the hallway since there was no room for them and their overmuscled girth in the elevator. I was glad because Thug #1's wool peacoat had been starting to smell a little ripe. **

"Ew!"

**Once again, I had a sensation of moving, but couldn't trace whether it was up or down. As we rode, I had a chance to study Marcus up close and personal. It was funny, but he really looked like an ordinary guy. He could have been anyone, a travel agent, a lawyer, a doctor. **

"And yet he chose murdering as a profession," David said.

"Apparently it pays well," Jake said.

**But he wasn't. He was a murderer. **

**How proud his mom must be. **

"Any mother would roll in her grave at the thought of her son turning out like that!" Helen spat out.

"**You know," I remarked, "when my mom finds out about this, Beaumont Industries is going down. Way down."**

"Suze, shut up and work on getting out there!" Jake shouted.

"**She's not going to connect your death with Beaumont Industries," Marcus informed me. **

"**Oh, yeah? Dude, let me tell you something. The minute my mutilated corpse is found, my mom's gonna turn into that creature from **_**Aliens 2**_**. You know the one where Sigourney Weaver gets into that forklift thing? And then-"**

"So true," Andy muttered.

"What was that?" Helen asked a spark of fury in her eyes.

"Err...I said that Suze needs to stop exaggerating because not even at your angriest you are like some sort of horror film monster."

"Hmm..."

"**You aren't going to be mutilated," Marcus snapped. He was obviously not a movie buff. He flung open the elevator door, and I saw that we were back where all of this had started, in Mr Beaumont's spooky office. **

"**You're going," he said, with satisfaction, "to drown."**

"Oh god!" Helen whispered.

"He really underestimates Suze," David spoke up. Everyone turned to look at him wondering what he was going to come up with, with that super brain of his. "Suze had Cee Cee to research everything, didn't she? So if Suze turned up dead what do you think Cee Cee is going to do? She'll hand everything in to Mom, wouldn't she? By killing Suze he'll destroy himself."

"You know, that's not exactly comforting," Helen said though she did feel a little bit better at the idea she'll destroy Marcus Beaumont if he ever touched her baby again.

"I think the fact that Suze is obviously going to get out of this alive and Marcus Beaumont is still missing should be comforting enough."

"Oh, please don't tell me Suze is going to turn into a murderer!" Helen cried out.

Andy passed the book to Jake quickly. "Read, quickly!"


	19. Chapter 19

_To the reviewer called Guest, thank you for the constructive criticism. Unfortunately I'll be continuing to not sound Californian. It's a struggle to get past your own nationality when writing another culture accurately. Every author makes the mistake even our genius Meg Cabot in her Queen of Babble had problems capturing British culture (honestly us not liking Diet Coke? I know I can't survive one week without some) correctly. Therefore I hope you ignore my Brit language in the family's responses. _

"**Here."**

**Marcus, by applying steady pressure to the small of my back, had steered me into the middle of the room. He went around the desk, reached into a drawer, and pulled out something red and silky. He threw it at me. **

"Red and silky?" Andy questioned looking dangerous and rather terrifying.

"Oh that's disgusting, who on earth would want to see Suze in her underwear?" Brad grimaced.

"Tad, Michael, Adam, Paul, Bryce and Jesse," David said.

"All psychos and idiots," Brad pointed out.

"Jesse is not a psycho or an idiot!" Helen snapped.

"And he better not want to see Suze in her underwear or we'll be having a very unpleasant talk," Jake added darkly.

**I, with my lightning quick reflexes, caught it, dropped it, then picked it up and squinted down at it. Except for the lights at the bottom of the aquarium, the room was in darkness. **

"**Put it on," Marcus said. **

"Pervert."

**It was a bathing suit. A Speedo one-piece. I tossed it, as if it had burned my fingers, on to the top of Red Beaumont's desk. **

"Now that is horrifying, a Speedo swimsuit?" Helen looked less terrified and more amused as she knew her daughter despised this brand of swimsuits. Designer all the way and Helen fully approved of that sentiment.

"**No thanks," I said. "Racerback straps don't really do it for me."**

**Marcus sighed. His gaze strayed towards the wall to my right. "Tad," he said, "wasn't nearly so difficult to persuade as you."**

"That was because Tad was an idiot," Jake said dryly.

**I spun around. Stretched out on a leather sofa I hadn't noticed before lay Tad. He was either asleep or unconscious. My vote was for unconscious, since most people don't nod off in their swimwear. **

"Unless they're on the beach or are Brad," David said.

"I had a tiring day surfing! But it's not like you'd understand since you spend all your time sitting down on your bony butt reading."

"Brad don't be rude to your little brother, David don't provoke him," Andy said tiredly.

**That's right: Tad was san apparel, save for those swim trunks I'd been lucky enough to have seen him in once before. **

"Urgh," all three boys said.

**I turned back towards his uncle Marcus. **

"**Nobody's going to believe it," I said. "I mean, it's raining outside. Nobody's going to believe we'd go swimming in weather like this."**

"How stupid is she?" Brad said. "There's plenty of water sports done in the rain. Sailing would be at its prime as well as jet-skiing and surfing."

"Not everyone has such an interest in sports like you do, Brad," Andy said.

"**You aren't going swimming," Marcus said. He'd wandered over towards the aquarium. Now he tapped on the glass to get the attention of an angel fish. "You're taking out my brother's yacht, and then you're going jet-skiing."**

"**In the **_**rain**_**?"**

"Hell yeah!"

**Marcus looked at me pityingly. "You've never been jet-skiing before, have you?"**

"No."

**Actually, no. I prefer to keep my feet, whenever possible, on dry land. Preferably in Prada, but I'll settle for Nine West. **

"I don't blame her after those two drowning incidents," Jake said without thinking.

"What two drowning incidents?" Helen and Andy yelled.

"Ah..."

"And you say I'm the stupid one," Brad said shaking his head.

"Well?" Andy growled.

"I'm sure you'll read them eventually," Jake said and he quickly went back to reading before either parent questioned him further more. He knew he'd be a dead man when they found out about how Suze almost drowned in the hot tub at his and Brad's party.

"**The water is particularly choppy in weather like this," Marcus explained patiently. "Seasoned jet-skiers – like my nephew – can't get enough of the whitecaps. On the whole, it's the perfect kind of activity for a couple of thrill-seeking teenagers who have cut school to enjoy one another's company...and who will, of course, never make it back to shore. Well, not alive anyway."**

Helen whimpered.

**Marcus sighed, and went on, "You see, regrettably, Tad refuses to wear a life vest when he goes out on the water – much too restricting – **

"God, he really is an idiot," Brad said.

"Or Marcus is just making it up," David pointed out.

"Either way he's being a sick man," Andy growled.

**And I'm afraid he's going to convince you to go without as well. The two of you will stray too far from the boat, a particularly strong swell will knock you over and...Well, the currents will probably toss your lifeless body to shore eventually-" he pulled up his sleeve and glanced at his watch again. "Most likely tomorrow morning. Now hurry and change. I have a lunch appointment with a gentleman who wants to sell me a piece of property that would be perfect for a Chuck E. Cheese."**

Everyone growled at this. "Sick, insane, psychotic bastard," Helen said imaging strangling the insufferable businessman with her own bare hands.

"**You can't kill your own **_**nephew**_**." My voice cracked. I was truly feeling...well, horrified. "I mean, I can't imagine something like that is going to make you too popular at Grandma's around the holidays."**

"If his Grandma is anything like ours I don't think it really matters," Jake muttered.

"No one would know he killed Tad," David said. "So he would have gotten away scot free."

"Yes, thank you for that David!"

**Marcus's mouth set into a grim line. "Perhaps you didn't understand me. As I have just taken great pains to explain to you, Miss Simon, your death, as well as my nephew's is going to look like a tragic accident."**

"**Is this how you got rid of Mrs Fiske?" I demanded. "Jet-ski accident?"**

"**Hardly," he said, rolling his eyes. "I wasn't interested in having her body found. Without a body there's no proof a murder has taken place, correct? Now, be a good girl and-"**

**This guy was a complete mental case. I mean, Red Beaumont, for all his believing he's from Transylvania, isn't anywhere near as cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs as his little brother. **

"Such a screwed up family," Brad said he turned to look at his parents. "And you thought you had problems with us."

"Brad, my eldest son is constantly exhausted, my middle son is an idiot, my youngest son is a super genius and my only daughter can see ghosts. We do have problems," Andy said.

"I'm not an idiot!"

"Then for god sake pass English for once!"

"**Is this how you get your kicks?" I glared at him. "You really are a sicko. And for your information, I am **_**not**_**," I declared, "taking a stitch off. Whoever finds this body is going to find it fully clothed, thank you very much."**

Andy and Helen nodded their approval while their eldest sons snickered. "May I ask what you find so amusing?" Helen asked in a frosty tone.

"She's dressed like a hooker while she's saying this," Brad sniggered.

"**Oh, I **_**am**_** sorry," he said. He actually sounded apologetic. "Of course you'd like a little privacy while you change. You'll have to forgive me. It's been a long time since I've been in the company of such a **_**modest**_** young lady." His gaze flickered disparagingly down towards my miniskirt. **

"Git."

"It's the truth though," David pointed out.

"Doesn't stop him from being such a git," Jake muttered.

"You agreed with him."

"David will you just shut up!"

**More than ever, I wanted to plunge one of my thumbs into his eyes. **

"I don't blame her at all," Helen said.

**But I was getting the impression that there was a chance he might actually leave me alone for a minute. And that was too tempting to resist. So I just stood there, trying to summon up a blush. **

The boys snorted at the idea of Suze blushing.

"**I suppose," he said with a sigh, "that I can spare you five minutes." He strolled back towards the elevator. "Just remember, Miss Simon, that I **_**will**_** get you into that bathing suit one way or another. You see, of course, what poor Tad chose." He nodded towards the couch. "It would be simpler – and less painful for you in the long run – if you'd put it on yourself and spare me the trouble."**

"If he touches one hair on her..." Andy growled.

"I bet Jesse will come in the last minute and do something to him," David said.

"Pete better have done something or I'll make his afterlife a misery," Helen muttered.

**He pulled the elevator door shut behind him. **

**There really **_**was**_** something wrong with him, I decided. I mean, he's just given up a chance to see a babe like me in the buff. The guy clearly had a nacho platter where his brains should have been.**

"I doubt it."

**Well, that's what I told myself anyway. **

**Alone in Mr Beaumont's office – except for Tad and the fish, neither of whom were particularly communicative at the moment – I immediately began trying to figure out a way to escape. The windows, I knew, were hopeless. But there was a phone on Mr Beaumont's desk. I picked it up and began dialling. **

"That won't work, I doubt Marcus would allow his mentally ill brother to make outgoing calls. Mr Beaumont probably order blood from the blood bank," David said.

"David, can you please allow me to have _one_ optimistic thought, is that too much to ask?" Helen said.

"**Miss Simon," Marcus' voice, coming through the receiver, sounded amused. "It's a house phone. You don't imagine we'd let Tad's father make any outgoing calls in his condition, do you? Please hurry up and change. We haven't much time."**

"See?"

"Dave, please be quiet before Mom blows a gasket."

**He hung up. So did i. **

**Half a minute wasted. **

**The door to the elevator was locked. So was the door on the opposite side of the room. I tried kicking it, but it was made of some kind of really thick, solid wood, and didn't budge. **

**I decided to turn my attention to the windows. Wrapping the end of one of the velvet curtains around my fist, I punched out a few panes of glass, then tried slamming my foot against the wooden shutters. **

**No good. They appeared to have been nailed permanently shut. **

"Damn it! Where's the fire emergency exit when you need one?"

**Three minutes left.**

**I looked around for a weapon. My plan, I decided, since escape appeared to be impossible, was to climb the bookshelf behind the back of the elevator door. When Marcus came through that door, I'd leap down upon him, and point a sharp object at his throat. Then I'd use him as a hostage to make my way past the two thugs. **

"Oh God..." Helen whimpered. She didn't like the idea of her daughter doing anything like this at all. Why couldn't her daughter be normal? Why couldn't Suze's only worry be passing Geometry?

**Ok, so it was a little **_**Xena, Warrior Princess**_**. Hey, it was a plan, all right? **

"It's something all right," Jake said.

"Just not a good one," Brad added. He had watched enough action and thriller films to know what a good escape plan is and this was not a good one.

**I never said it was a good one. It was just the best one I could come up with under the circumstances. I mean, it wasn't as if anybody was going to come bursting in to rescue me. I didn't see how anybody could – except for maybe Jesse, who was pretty slick at walking through walls and stuff. **

"Yes but unless you suddenly die you can't follow him!" David snapped.

**Only Jesse didn't know I needed him. He didn't know I was in trouble. He didn't even know where I was. **

Helen moaned loudly. Jesse was sort of her final hope, if Pete was going to be useless and everyone alive didn't know where Suze was then Jesse had to be her baby girl's saviour.

**And I had no way of letting him know either. **

**A shard of glass, I decided, would make an excellent, very threatening weapon, and so I looked for a particularly lethal-looking one amid the rubble I'd made of a few of Mr Beaumont's windows. **

**Two minutes. **

The tension in the room began to build up.

**Holding my shard of glass in my hand – wishing I had my ghost-busting gloves with me so I'd be sure not to cut myself – I scrambled up the bookshelf, no easy feat in three-inch heels. **

**One and a half minutes. **

**I glanced over at Tad. He lay limp as a rag doll, his bare chest rising and falling in a gentle rhythmic motion. It was quite nice-looking chest actually. Not as nice looking, maybe, as Jesse's. But still, in spite of his uncle being a murderer, and his dad being foreman at the cracker factory – not to mention the whole basketball thing – I wouldn't have minded resting my head against it. His chest, I mean. You know, under other circumstances, Tad actually being conscious being one of them. **

"Ew, Ew, Ew! Can't she keep her hormones under control during a life or death situation?" Brad whined.

**But I'd never have the chance if I didn't get us out of this alive. **

"You never had a chance after all this mess," Brad said.

"Brad, you're talking to a book again," David said.

"I don't care, Shuddup."

**There was no sound in the room, save Tad's steady breathing and the burbling of the aquarium.**

**The aquarium. **

"What about the aquarium?" Helen said anxiously.

**I looked at the aquarium. It made up most of one whole wall of the office. How, I wondered, did those fish get fed? The tank was built into the wall. I could detect no convenient trapdoor through which someone might sprinkle food. The tank had to be accessed through the room next door. **

"An escape route!" David said excitedly.

"Oh thank god!" Andy and Helen said.

**The room I couldn't get to because the door to it was locked. **

**Unless. **

**Thirty seconds. **

**I dropped down from the bookshelf and began striding towards the aquarium.**

**I could hear the elevator begin to hum. Marcus, right on time, was on his way back. Needless to say, I had not put on my swimsuit like a good little girl. Although I did grab it – along with the wheeled swivel chair that had been behind Mr Beaumont's desk – as I walked towards the fish tank.**

**The humming of the elevator stopped. I heard the doorknob turn. I kept walking. The chairs' wheels were noisy on the parquet floor. **

**The door to the elevator opened. Marcus, seeing that I had not done as he asked, shook his head. **

"**Miss Simon," he said, in a disappointed tone. "Are we being difficult?"**

"No she's being very reasonable in her attempts to escape you!" Helen snapped.

"Why would anyone be anything but difficult in a situation like this?" David asked.

"For someone so smart, he can be an idiot."

**I positioned the swivel chair in front of the aquarium. Then I lifted a foot and balanced it on top of the seat. From one finger, I dangled the bathing suit. **

"**Sorry," I said apologetically. "But dead's never been my colour."**

Helen managed a strained smile at Suze's humour while the boys exchanged grins. "That's Suze all right," Andy said proudly.

**Then I grabbed that chair, and flung it with all my might at the glass of that giant fish tank. **


	20. Chapter 20

**The next thing I knew there was a tremendous crash. Then a wall of water, glass and exotic marine life was coming at me.**

"So that's why she smelled like fish!" David exclaimed.

**It knocked me flat on to my back. A tidal wave hit me with the weight of a freight train, pushing me to the floor, then flattening me against the far wall of the room. The wind knocked out of me, I lay there a second, soaked, coughing up some briny water, some of which I accidentally swallowed. **

The boys and Helen made a face. Sea water, disgusting.

**When I opened my eyes, all I could see were fish. Big fish, little fish, trying to swim through the three inch of water that lay upon the wood floor, opening and closing their mouths in a pathetic attempt to snatch a few more seconds of life. One fish, in particular had washed up next to me, and it stared at me with eyes almost as glassy and lifeless as Marcus's had been when he'd been explaining how he intended to kill me. **

Everyone shuddered. They already grasped the idea that Marcus was a psycho but the fact his eyes were dead...that just proved he was worse than they can imagine. At least Michael had a motive, Marcus had no excuse.

**Then a very familiar voice cut through my dazed musings on the paradoxes of life and death.**

"**Susannah?"**

"Now he comes to rescue her!"

"Who is it?"

"Brad, use your brain who calls Suze Susannah?"

"Father D."

"Ok, Brad who calls Suze Susannah and can appear out of thin air?"

"Don't bother, Dad, it's a lost cause."

"Hey!"

**I lifted my head, and was extremely surprised to see Jesse standing over me, a very worried look on his face. **

"Oh," Brad said finally understanding who it was.

"**Oh," I said. "Hi. How did you get here?"**

"**You called me," Jesse said. **

Everyone exchanged blank looks. As far as they knew Suze did not call Jesse, she thought about him – quite a lot, sometimes never ending by the sounds of things – but she hadn't called him.

"I wasn't aware there was a ghostly mobile to call spirits on," Jake said dryly.

**How could I ever have thought, I wondered as I lay there gazing up at him, that any guy, even Tad, could ever be quite as hot as Jesse? **

"Urgh, not again," Brad whined. His brothers nodded their agreement while pulling faces.

**Everything from the tiny scar in his eyebrow, to the way his dark hair curled against the back of his neck, was perfect, as if Jesse were the original mould for the archetypal hottie. **

Helen sighed wistfully.

**He was polite too. Old-world manners were the only ones he knew. He leaned down and offered me his hand...his lean, brown, completely poison-oak-free hand. **

"She's so lucky," Helen said.

"Should I be jealous?" Andy asked.

"Of course not, you're just as gentlemanly and wonderful as Jesse is. Suze is just lucky that she met Jesse so early in life," Helen said quickly.

**I reached up. He helped me to my feet. **

"**Are you all right?" he asked, probably because I wasn't mouthing off as much as usual. **

"You know something is wrong with Suze when she's quiet."

"**I'm fine," I said. Drenched and smelling of fish, but fine. "But I didn't call you."**

**From the opposite corner of the room came a very low snarl. **

**Marcus was struggling to get to his feet, but he kept slipping on all the water and fish. "What the **_**hell **_**did you do that for?" he wanted to know. **

"Err...I don't know, probably to stop you from killing her and escape?" David said sarcastically.

"Suze has corrupted him, he was never this sarcastic before," Brad mumbled to Jake.

"Yes he was you just never understood it before."

**I couldn't actually remember. I think maybe when the water hit me, I banged my head against something. Wow, I thought. Amnesia. Cool. I'd get out of tomorrow's Geometry quiz for sure.**

"Nice try," Helen snorted.

**Then my gaze fell on Tad – still sleeping peacefully on the couch, an exotic-looking fish flopping in death throes on his bare legs – and I remembered. **

"Ew!"

**Oh, yeah. Tad's uncle Marcus was trying to kill us. **_**Would**_** kill us, too, if I didn't stop him.**

**I'm not sure I was really thinking straight. All I could remember from before the water hit was that it had been important for some reason, for me to get on to the other side of that fish tank. **

**And so I waded through all that water – thinking to myself, my boots are **_**so**_** ruined – and climbed up on to what was now just a raised platform, like a stage, looking out across a sea of slapping fishtails. The accent lights, still buried in the coloured gravel at the bottom of the tank, shined up on me. **

"Oh, God, what is she up to now?" Helen moaned.

"**Susannah," I heard Jesse say. He'd followed me, and now stood looking up at me curiously. "What are you doing?"**

"That's what I want to know!"

**I ignored him – and Marcus, too, who was still swearing as he tried to get across the room without getting his Cole-Haans more wet than they already were.**

**I stood inside the ruined aquarium and looked up. As I'd suspected, the fish were fed from a room behind the tank...a room in which there was nothing except aquarium maintenance equipment. The locked door from Mr Beaumont's office led into this room. There was no other form of egress. **

**Not that it mattered now, of course. **

"**Get down from there." Marcus sounded really mad. "Get down there from there, by God, or I'll climb in and fish you out-"**

The boys sniggered. Fish her out, considering she was in a fish tank that was rather funny.

"It's not funny!" Helen snapped. "He's a dangerous man!"

The boys stopped laughing immediately.

**Fish me out. That struck me as kind of amusing under the circumstances. I started to laugh. **

Helen felt like banging her head against a wall. Why did she decide to have children? They have no sense of survival!

"Sweetheart, don't worry," Andy said mistaking her frustration as fear, "we know she'll get out of this alive."

"**Susannah," Jesse said. "I think-"**

"**We'll see how hard you're laughing," Marcus bellowed, "when I get through with you, you stupid bitch."**

"Did he just call my sister a bitch?" Brad said furiously.

"Why do you care? You call her a bitch all the time," David pointed out, though he was equally as furious.

"She's my sister! I'm allowed to!" Brad snapped.

"No you're not, I want you to apologise to Suze about calling her a bitch," Andy said sternly.

"I don't think Suze cares much, Dad," Jake said, "considering it means she gets to punch him each time he says it."

Andy wondered what it was like to have children that_ didn't _fight each other all the time.

**I stopped laughing all of a sudden. **

"**Susannah," Jesse said. Now he **_**really**_** sounded worried. **

"Punch the slimy git that called Suze a bitch first Jesse, then be worried about Suze," Jake advised the book.

"**Don't worry, Jesse," I said, in a perfectly calm voice. "I've got this one under control."**

"_**Jesse**_**?" Marcus looked around. Not seeing anyone else in the room, however, but Tad, he said, "It's Marcus. I'm Marcus, remember? Now, come on down here. We don't have any more time for these childish games..."**

"Is he actually concerned or is has he just hit his head?" David asked.

"Hit his head," his two brothers and father said.

**I bent down and seized one of the accent lights that glowed, hidden in the sand at the bottom of the tank. Shaped like a small floodlight, it proved to be very hot in my hands when I touched it.**

**Marcus, realizing I wasn't going to come with him on my own accord, sighed, and reached into his suit coat, which was wet and smelly now. He'd have to change before his lunch meeting. **

"Who cares? Let him loose some business because of his B.O problems, it would serve him right," David muttered.

"If he went to the lunch meeting then it would mean Suze had been murdered!" Helen snarled.

"Sorry Mom wasn't thinking," David said quickly.

"Now that is a first," Jake said.

"**Ok, you want to play games?" Marcus pulled something made of shiny metal from his breast pocket. It was, I realized, a tiny little gun. A twenty-two, from the look of it. I knew from having watched so many episodes of **_**Cops**_**.**

Helen let out a small scream and clung to David who had shifted towards her feet again. Brad clutched tightly to the book, his fist turning white and he looked furious. Jake was also staring darkly at the little diary, bloody sisters! Always getting into trouble, couldn't she have just taken up surfing? Then at least she could get into trouble under his watchful eye!

"Must ban all violent TV shows," Andy muttered as he wrote another thing on his list. TV must be corruptive if Suze can tell the difference between guns.

"**See this?" Marcus pointed the muzzle at me. "I don't want to have to shoot you. The coroner tends to be suspicious of drowning victims bearing gunshot wounds. But we can always let the propellers dismember you so no one will actually be able to tell. Maybe just your head will toss up on to shore. Wouldn't your mother love **_**that**_**? Now, put the light down and let's go."**

Helen clung tighter to David as she felt her eyes sting with tears threatening to fall. Her baby is so close to dying and the image of her baby's head on the beach without its body wouldn't leave her alone.

"I'll kill him!" she hissed. "I'll hunt him down and hack him into tiny pieces with my nail scissors!"

"Mom, you're choking me!" David gasped.

**I straightened, but I didn't put the light down. It came up with me, along with the black, rubber-coated cord that had grounded it beneath the sand. **

"**That's right," Marcus said, looking pleased. "Put the light down and let's go."**

"And I'll make him watch as I start with his family jewels!"

David was still choking.

**Jesse, standing in the water beside my would-be assassin, looked extremely interested in what was going on. "Susannah," he said. "That is a gun he is holding. Do you want me to-?"**

"Yes, you moron! Don't just stand there, take the gun away!"

"Mom! Loosen your hold on David!" Jake said alarmed as his brother's face turned an interesting shade of purple.

Helen let go of David, "Oh I'm so sorry sweetie," she said.

"It's ok," David said breathing deeply.

"**Don't worry, Jesse," I said, approaching the edge of the tank, where there'd once been a wall of glass – before I'd broken it, that is. "Everything's under control."**

"**Who the hell is Jesse?" Marcus, I realized, was getting testy. "There is no Jesse here. **

Brad snorted. "That's what he thinks."

**Now put the light down and let's-"**

**I did what he said. Well, sort of. That is, I wrapped the cord that was attached to the light around my left hand. Then with my other hand, I pulled the bulb so that the cord came popping right out of the back of the socket. **

Helen moaned. "She's going to electrocute herself!"

**Then I stood there holding the lamp in one hand, and the cord with frayed wires now sticking out of one end of it in the other. **

"**That's great," Marcus said. "You broke the light. You really showed me. Now-" his voice rose – "**_**get down here**_**!"**

"You know...he really shouldn't underestimate Suze," David said grinning.

Everyone looked at him. "What do you know?" Brad asked.

"Read and you'll find out."

**I stepped up to the edge of the tank. **

"**I am not," I informed Marcus, "stupid."**

"Of course not, you're one of the smartest girls I know," David agreed cheerfully.

**He gestured with the gun. "Whatever you say. Just-"**

"**Nor," I added, "am I a bitch."**

**Marcus's eyes widened. Suddenly he realized what I was up to. **

"**No!" he shrieked. **

**But it was way too late. I had already thrown the cord into the murky water at Marcus's feet. **

**There was a brilliant blue flash and a lot of popping noises. Marcus screamed. **

**And then we were plunged into impenetrable darkness. **

"Now...that...is awesome," Brad said.

David nodded. "She's been listening to my electric safety talks," he said happily.

"Oh come of it, does every smart thing she does link back to you?" Brad snapped.

David nodded again, "Just like everything stupid she does relates back to you."

"David," Andy said before Brad could retort something. They really didn't need another argument.

"What? It's true," David said looking up innocently. "Look at the statistics, every intelligent thing she does to save herself relates back to a conversation with me while every stupid action she takes – say, going after Michael Meducci, was because of _Brad, _its simple mathematics."

"Hang on, it's not my fault that Suze tried to catch that geek!" Brad protested.

"It wasn't us Michael was trying to kill," David said.

"Stop it!" Helen snapped. "I don't need being reminded of that psycho! It's bad enough my little girl attracts them like a magnet but that one went after all four of you, end of story now read the next entry David!"


	21. Chapter 21

**Well, ok not really impenetrable. I could still see Jesse, glowing the way he did. **

"Jesse De Silva – Suze's boyfriend and nightlight," Brad sniggered.

"How was that funny?" David asked.

"It just is!"

"**That," he said, looking down at the moaning Marcus, "was very impressive, Susannah."**

Helen felt a lot more cheerful knowing that her baby girl has impressed what she thought was the ideal man for her daughter. Just a few more steps and they'll be a couple.

"**Thanks," I said, pleased to have won his approval. It happened so rarely. I was glad I'd listened to Doc during one of his recent electrical safety lectures.**

David had a very smug look on his face. "Oh shut up!" Brad snarled.

"But I haven't said anything," David said innocently.

"**Now, do you think you want to tell me," Jesse asked, moving to offer me a steadying hand as I climbed down from the aquarium, "just what is going on here? Is that your friend Tad on the couch there?"**

"**Uh-huh." Before stepping down, I bent down, searching for the cord along the floor. "Step over here, will you, so I can-" Jesse's glow, subtle as it was, soon revealed what I was looking for. "Never mind." I pulled the cord back up into the aquarium. "Just in case," I said, straightening and climbing out of the aquarium; "they get the circuit breaker fixed before I'm out of here."**

"How is she going to get out of there?" Jake asked. "I thought the only exit was the lift and isn't that run by electricity?"

Helen and Andy paled. "Oh God!" Helen whispered horrified.

"**Who is **_**they**_**? Susannah, what is going on here?"**

"**It's a long story," I said. "And I'm not sticking around to tell it. I want to be out of here when he -" I nodded towards Marcus, who was moaning more loudly now – "wakes up. He's got a couple of thick-necked compadres waiting for me too, in case-" I broke off. **

**Jesse looked at me questioningly. "What is it?"**

"**Do you smell that?"**

"Smell what?" Helen said panicky. "What does she smell?"

"Fish?" Brad suggested.

**Stupid question. I mean, after all, the guy's dead. Can ghosts smell?**

"Well if Jesse can touch her I'm sure he can smell her," David said.

**Apparently so, since he went, "Smoke."**

"Smoke? Smoke? She's in a room that's on fire? Someone get her out of there, NOW!"

**A single syllable, but it sent a chill down my spine. Either that, or a fish had found its way inside my sweater. **

The boys and Helen pulled a disgusted face. "Urgh," Helen and Brad added with a groan. Both of them despised nature with their very being.

**I glanced at the aquarium. Beyond it, I could see a rosy glow emanating from the room next door. Just as I had suspected, by giving Marcus a giant electric shock, I had managed to spark a fire in the circuit panel. It appeared to have spread to the walls around it. I could see the first tiny licks of orange leaping out from behind the wood panelling. **

"Oh god, oh god, my baby is going to get barbequed!" Helen panicked grabbing hold of Brad (David and Andy were both smart enough to move away).

"**Great," I said. The elevator was useless without electricity. And as I knew only too well, there was no other way out of that room. **

**Jesse wasn't quite the defeatist I was however. **

"If he gets her out of there, I'll make Andy bake him a three tier cake!" Helen promised furiously holding onto Brad tightly.

"Gah!" was all Brad said struggling beneath his stepmother's grip.

"Forget a three tier cake I'll make him a six tier cake," Andy swore.

"You do realise that Jesse is only one person and won't be able to eat all of that?" David said. "He'll end up like the four King Georges of England – death by overindulgence of food."

"**The windows," he said, and hurried towards them. **

"**It's no good." I leaned against Mr Beaumont's desk and picked up the house phone. Dead, just as I'd expected. "They're nailed shut."**

**Jesse glanced at me over his shoulder. He looked amused. "So?" he said. **

"So she can't get them open!" Helen shrieked.

"Mom, Jesse has supernatural powers, he'll get them open," Jake said reassuringly.

"Air!" Brad pleaded as Helen held Brad close to her.

"**So." I slammed the receiver down. "**_**Nailed**_**, Jesse. As in impossible to budge."**

"**For you, maybe." Even as he said it, the wooden shutters over the window closest to me began to tremble ominously as if blown by some unseen gale. "But not for me."**

**I watched, impressed. "Golly gee, Mr," I said. "I forgot all about your superpowers."**

"He's not going to get that," Andy half chuckled. His concern for Suze's safety was overriding most of his humour.

**Jesse's look went from amused to confused. "My what?"**

"**Oh." I dropped the imitation I'd been doing of a kid from an episode of**_** Superman**_**.**

"**Never mind."**

**I heard, above the sound of nails screaming as if caught in the suck zone of an F5 tornado, people shouting. I glanced towards the elevator. The thugs, apparently concerned for their employer's welfare, were calling his name up the shaft. **

**I guess I didn't blame them. Smoke was steadily filling the room. I could hear small eruptions now as chemicals – most likely of the hazardous nature – used in the upkeep of Mr Beaumont's fish tank burst into flames next door. If we didn't get out there soon, I had a feeling we'd all be inhaling some pretty toxic fumes. **

Helen's nails dug into Brad's shoulder causing him to scream. He managed to push Helen away and crawled quickly as possible to the other side of the room. Helen looked slightly embarrassed. "Sorry Brad," she said, "are you ok?"

"I will be," Brad said. "Though I'll have marks for days," he added in a mutter to Jake who looked a little sympathetic.

**Fortunately, at that moment the shutters burst off first one and then another of the windows, with all the force as if a hurricane had suddenly ripped them off. Blam! And then blam again. I'd never seen anything like it before, not even on the Discovery Channel. **

**Grey light rushed in. it was, I realized, still raining out. **

"Lovely."

**I didn't care. I don't think I'd ever been so glad to see the sky, even as darkly overcast as it was. I rushed to the window closest to me and looked out, squinting against the rain. **

**We were, I saw, in the upper storey of the house. Below us lay the patio...**

**And the pool. **

"How high is it?" Helen cried out. "What if she hits her head on the patio?"

"Helen, you know that doesn't happen because she comes back safe and the police would have told us that she'd been the hospital. Honestly sweetheart, the hospital wouldn't have even allowed her out without twenty four hour observation," Andy said reassuringly.

**The shouting up the elevator shaft was growing louder. The thicker the smoke grew, apparently, the more frantic the thugs became. God forbid one of them should think to dial 911. Then again, considering the career choices they'd made, that number probably didn't hold much appeal for them. **

Jake snorted. "They probably don't have the brains to dial the number either."

**I measured the distance between myself and the deep end of the pool. **

"**It can't be more than twenty feet." Jesse, observing my calculations, nodded to Marcus. "You go, I'll look after him." his dark-eyed gaze flocked towards the elevator shaft. "And them, if they make any progress."**

**I didn't ask what he meant by 'looking after'. I didn't have to. The dangerous light in his eyes said it all. **

"He better have saved me a piece," Helen snarled.

**I glanced at Tad. Jesse followed my gaze, then rolled his eyes, the dangerous light extinguished. He muttered some stuff in Spanish. **

"Jealous much?" Brad asked.

"Maybe or he just wants Suze out of there first," Andy said highly amused at his wife's gleeful expression.

"**Well, I can't just leave him here," I said. **

"**No."**

**Which was how, a few seconds later, Tad supported by me, but transported via the Jesse-kinetic connection, ended up perched on the sill of one of those windows Jesse had blown open for me. **

**The only way to get Tad into the pool – and to safety – was to drop him into it out of the window. This was risky enough endeavour without having an inferno blazing next door, and hired assassins bearing down on one. I had to concentrate. I didn't want to do it wrong. What if I missed and he smacked onto the patio instead? Tad could break his poison-oaky neck. **

Everyone grimaced. The boys and Andy didn't like the interest Tad had in Suze especially since he couldn't remember her name properly and thought she was boring but even they didn't want the poor guy to die, especially by breaking his neck from such a fall.

**But I didn't have much choice in the matter. It was either turn him into a possible pancake, or let him be barbecued for true. I went with the possible pancake, thinking that he was likelier to heal in time for the prom from a cracked skull than third-degree burns, and, after aiming as best as I could, I let go. He fell backwards, like a scuba diver off the side of a boat, tumbling once through the sky and doing what Dopey would call a pretty sick inverted spin (Dopey is an avid, if untalented, snowboarder).**

"Oi!"

**Fortunately, Tad's sick inverted spin ended with him floating on his back in the deep end of his father's pool. **

Helen and Andy sighed with relief.

"Thank God!" Jake said. "Suze didn't need a murder on her conscience not after what happened to Mr Beaumont."

**Of course, to guarantee he didn't drown – unconscious people aren't the best swimmers – I jumped in after him...but not before one last look around. **

**Marcus was finally starting to regain consciousness. He was coughing a little because of the smoke, and splashing around in the fishy water. Jesse stood over him, looking grim-faced. **

"**Go, Susannah," he said when he noticed I'd hesitated. **

**I nodded. But there was still one thing I had to know. **

"**You're not..." I didn't want to, but I had to ask it. "You're not going to kill him, are you?"**

"I hope not, I rather he shoved him somewhere for torture and has been waiting for me to find out so I can strangle the bastard," Helen muttered viciously.

"Only after I get to punch him darling," Andy said in an equally dark voice.

The three Ackerman boys shared the same thought – _don't piss off Mom and Dad. _

**Jesse looked as incredulous as if I'd asked him if he were going to serve Marcus a slice of cheesecake. He said, "Of course not. **_**Go.**_**"**

**I went. **

**The water was warm. It was like jumping into a giant bathtub. When I'd swum up to the surface – not exactly easy in boots, by the way – I hurried to Tad's side...**

**Only to find that the water had revived him. He was splashing around, looking confused and taking in great lungfuls of water. I smacked him on the back a couple of times, and steered him to the side of the pool, which he clung to gratefully. **

"**S-Sue."**

"Suze," everyone corrected absently.

**He sputtered, bewilderedly. "What are **_**you**_** doing here?" then he noticed my leather jacket. "And why aren't you wearing a bathing suit?"**

"Is that all he can think of?" Jake said furiously. "That he can't perv at Suze?"

"**It's a long story." I said. **

**He looked even more confused after that, but that was all right. I figured with as much stuff as he was going to have to deal with – his dad being a Prozac candidate, his uncle a serial killer – he didn't need to have all the gory details spelled out for him right away. Instead, I guided him over towards the shallow end. We'd only been standing there a minute before Mr Beaumont opened the sliding glass door and stepped outside. **

"**Children," he said. He was wearing a silk dressing gown and his bedroom slippers. He looked very excited. "What are you doing in that pool? There's a fire! Get out of the house at once."**

"He is a darling, really," Helen said.

"Just crackers enough to believe he's a vampire," Brad said.

**Even as he said it, I could hear, off in the distance, the whine of a siren. The fire department was on its way. Someone, anyway, had dialled 911.**

"**I warned Marcus," Mr Beaumont said, as he held out a big fluffy towel for Tad to step into, "about the wiring in my office. I had a feeling it was faulty. My telephone absolutely would not make outgoing calls."**

Everyone snorted. "I wonder why," Jake said sarcastically.

**Still standing in the waist-high water, I followed Mr Beaumont's gaze, and found myself looking up at the window I'd just leaped from. Smoke was billowing out of it. The fire seemed to be contained in that section of the house, but still, it looked pretty bad. I wondered if Marcus and his thugs had gotten out in time. **

"If they don't then I wish them to die a very slow death," Helen said.

**And then someone stepped up to the window and looked down at me. **

**It wasn't Marcus. And it wasn't Jesse either, though this person was giving off a tell-tale glow. **

**It was someone who waved cheerfully down at me. **

**Mrs Deirdre Fiske. **

"Ah, revenge at last. She'll probably go off to heaven now," Brad said.

"Yes but this doesn't resolve the fact that Mom is haunting Suze," Jake said unhappily. After all the drama was over he remembered why Suze got into this particular mess in the first place.

"It'll be resolved in the next entry or two," David said half reassuringly but half gloomy.

Helen resisted the urge to hug all three of them. They probably needed their space to grieve over their mother and having their stepmother invade that space will probably upset them even more.


	22. Chapter 22

**I never saw Marcus Beaumont again.**

"So the ghosts killed him?"

"I doubt it, Jesse doesn't strike me as a killer," Andy said.

Brad snorted. For some reason Brad very much doubted that Jesse didn't have some sort of homicidal tendencies.

**Oh, stop worrying: he didn't croak. Of course, the firemen looked for him. I told them I thought there was at least one person trapped in that burning room, and they did their best to get in there in time to save him. **

"He didn't deserve her help," Helen sniffed. Though she couldn't help but be proud of her daughter attempting to help someone despite what he had done to her.

**But they didn't find anyone. And no human remains were discovered by the investigators who went in after the fire was finally put out. They found an awful lot of burned fish, but no Marcus Beaumont. **

**Marcus Beaumont was officially missing. **

**Much in the same way, I realized, that his victims had gone missing. He simply vanished, as if into thin air. **

"If he's still alive, I'll find him," Helen muttered. "I'll hunt him down with my nail scissors."

**A lot of people were puzzled by the disappearance of this prominent businessman. In later weeks, there would be articles about it in the local papers, and even a mention on one cable news network. Interestingly, the person who knew the most about Marcus Beaumont's last moments before he vanished was never interviewed, much less questioned, about what may have led up to his bizarre disappearance. **

**Which is probably just as well, considering the fact that she had way more important things to worry about. For instance, being grounded. **

"She deserved more than she got for scaring the life out of me," Andy grumbled.

"We grounded her for bunking school, not being kidnapped by a psychopath," Helen said sternly but she secretly agreed with her husband. Lock Suze up and never let her out apart from dates with Jesse. Then she'll be a hundred per cent safe.

**That's right. Grounded. **

**If you think about it, the only thing I'd really done wrong on the day in question was dress a little less conservatively than I should have. Seriously. If I'd gone Banana Republic instead of Betsy Johnson, none of this might have happened. Because then I wouldn't have been sent home to change, and Marcus would never have gotten his mitts on me. **

"I don't know about that," Jake said. "Father D would only be able to protect her for so long before Marcus got hold of her."

"Don't say that!" Helen shuddered.

**On the other hand, then he'd still probably be going around, slipping environmentalists into cement booties and tossing them off the side of his brother's yacht...or however it was he got rid of all those people without ever being caught. I never really did get the full story on that one. **

**In any case, I got grounded, completely unjustly, although I wasn't exactly in the position to defend myself...not without telling the truth, and I couldn't, of course, do that. **

"You could!" Helen said. "I would have listened!"

"But for how long before you'd phoned the nearest psychiatrist?" David asked. "It's highly unbelievable."

Helen glared darkly at David causing him to cringe.

**I guess you could imagine how it must have looked to my mother and stepfather when the cop car pulled up in front of our house and Officer Green opened the back door to reveal...well me. **

"It looked awful, I had so many flashbacks to New York."

**I looked like something out of a movie about post-apocalyptic America. **_**Tank Girl**_**, but without the awful haircut. Sister Ernestine wasn't going to have to worry about me showing up to school in Betsy Johnson ever again either. The skirt was completely ruined, as was my cashmere sweater set.**

"Oh, what a tragedy," Brad said sarcastically.

**My fabulous leather motorcycle jacket might be all right, someday, if I can ever figure out a way to get the fishy smell out of it.**

"She did...unfortunately," Helen grumbled.

**The boots, however, are a lost cause. **

**Boy, was my mom mad. And not because of my clothes either. **

"Who cares about clothes? There were far more important things at stake at the time, her life from the fire and her education from bunking!"

**Interestingly, Andy was even madder. **

"Why is that interesting?" Brad asked. "Dad is always the angry strict parent."

"Not always," Andy said feeling a little hurt. He can be the cool parent too!

"It's interesting to Suze because Dad isn't her parent and she had only been living with him for a few weeks, far too soon to be considered a disciplinary," David said unaware that he was only hurting Andy even more.

**Interestingly because, of course, he's not even my real parent. **

"Biology isn't the only thing that makes you a parent!" Andy protested.

"I know honey, I'm sure Suze thinks of you as a father now," Helen said soothingly.

**But you should have seen the way he lit into me right there in the living room. Because of course I had to explain to them what it was I'd been doing at the Beaumonts' place when the fire broke out, instead of being where I was supposed to have been: school. **

**And the only lie I could think of that seemed the least bit believable was my newspaper article story. **

**So I told them that I'd skipped school in order to do some follow-up work on my interview with Mr Beaumont. **

**They didn't believe me of course.**

"Well I believed her," Helen said. "I just knew she wouldn't have bunked willingly and called her out on it."

**It turned out they knew I'd been sent home from school to change clothes. Father Dominic, alarmed when I didn't return in a timely fashion, had immediately called my mother and stepfather at their respective work places of work to alert them to the fact I was missing.**

"He sounded so worried," Andy sighed. He was used to having calls from administration staff about Brad or Jake's misbehaviour or a call from a teacher to praise David but he never had a call from Father Dominic and before then never one about Suze. Administration staff always used professional tones and the teachers were pleasant and cheerful...Father Dominic was so _worried_. "He must have known something must have happened.

"**Well," I explained. "I was on my way home to change when Mr Beaumont's brother drove by and offered me a ride, and so I took it, and then when I was sitting in Mr B's office, I started to smell smoke, and so I jumped out of the window..."**

"How on earth did I miss that bit of her story?" Helen yelped.

"You probably thought she meant the ground floor," Andy said calmly.

**Ok, even I have to admit the whole thing sounded super suspicious. But it was better than the truth, right? I mean, were they really going to believe that Tad's uncle Marcus had been trying to kill me because I knew too much about a bunch of murders he'd committed for the sake of urban sprawl?**

"Yes."

**Not very likely. Even Tad didn't try that one on the cops who showed up along with the fire department, and demanded an explanation as to why he was hanging around the house in a swimsuit on a school-day. I guess he didn't want to get his uncle in trouble since it would look bad for his dad and all. he started lying like crazy about how he had a cold, and the doctor recommended he try to clear his sinuses by sitting for long bouts in his hot tub (good one: I was definitely going to have to remember it for future reference – Andy was talking about building a hot tub on to our deck out back).**

"Don't even think about it," Andy said before any of his sons could think of using that excuse.

**Tad's father, God bless him, denied both our stories completely, insisting he'd been in his room waiting for his lunch to be delivered when one of the servants had informed him that his office was in flames. No one had said anything about Tad having stayed home with a cold, or a girl waiting for an interview with him.**

"Damn, that's one way to destroy a story," Brad said.

"I don't think so," David said with a slight smile. "Red Beaumont is bound to say something that'll make him less credible to the police."

**Fortunately, however, he also claimed while waiting for his lunch to be delivered, he'd been taking a nap in his coffin. **

"See?"

"Yes, yes, we get it, you're the all knowing genius."

"Can I get that in writing?"

"Hell no!"

**That's right: his **_**coffin**_**. **

**This caused a number of raised eyebrows, and eventually, it was decided that Mr Beaumont ought to be admitted to the local hospital's psychiatric floor for a few days' observation. This, as you might understand, necessarily cut off any conversation Tad and I might have had at the time, and while he went off with EMS and his father, I was unceremoniously led to a squad car and, eventually, when the cops remembered me, driven home. **

**Where, instead of being welcomed into the bosom of my family, I received the bawling out of a lifetime. **

**I'm not kidding. Andy was enraged. He said I should have gone straight home, changed clothes, and gone straight back to school. I had no business accepting rides from anyone, particularly wealthy businessmen I hardly knew. **

"And I was right!" Andy said feeling anger bubble up. "While I had meant to imply the strange businessman would do improper things the whole thing still stands right now. She got into a car with that guy and he tried to murder her!"

"No," Helen said, "she didn't go willingly with him. She was forced to by thugs, save this rant for when she gets into a car willingly with that _boy."_

**Furthermore, I had skipped school, and no matter how many times I pointed out that a) I'd actually been kicked **_**out**_** of school, and b) I'd been doing an assignment **_**for**_** school (at least according to the story I told him), I had, essentially, betrayed everyone's trust. I was grounded for one week. **

**I tell you, it was almost enough to make me consider telling the truth. **

The boys snorted. Being grounded for a week was nothing and it would take far more than that for Suze to even say a word let alone a truthful one.

**Almost. But not quite. **

**I was getting ready to slink upstairs to my room – in order to 'think about what I'd done' – when Dopey strolled in and casually announced that, by the way, on top of all my other sins, I had also punched him very hard in the stomach that morning for no apparent reason. **

"Snitch," Jake said disgustedly. "You just told because you wanted her to get into more trouble."

"It hurt!"

"That's no excuse!"

"Don't argue boys. Jake, there was no excuse for Suze to punch him in the first place, Brad, if you were in the army or, I sincerely hope you never end up there, prison you would have been killed for snitching," Andy said. "Please try not to act childish and set your little brother a good example."

"Don't worry Dad," David said cheerfully, "they've never been my role models, and I follow my sister's example."

"I'd rather you didn't follow Suze's example to some extents, David," Andy said thinking of the fighting, sneaking out, jumping out of twenty story buildings and getting herself killed.

**This, of course, was an outright lie, and I was quick to remind him of this: I had been provoked, unnecessarily so. But Andy, who does not condone violence for any reason, promptly grounded me for another week. Since he also grounded Dopey for whatever it was he had said that had led to my punching him, I didn't mind too much, but still, it seemed a bit extreme. So extreme, in fact, that after Andy had left the room, I sort of had to sit down, exhausted in the wake of his rage, which I had never before seen unleashed – well, not in **_**my **_**direction anyway. **

"**You really," my mother said, taking a seat opposite me, and looking a bit worriedly down at the slip cover on which I was slumped, "should have let us know where you were. Poor Father Dominic was frightened out of his mind for you."**

"Poor Father D," Jake said, "He must have been terrified when he realised Suze was missing."

"**Sorry," I said woefully, fingering the remnants of my skirt. "I'll remember next time."**

"**Still," my mother said. "Officer Green told us that you were very helpful during the fire. So I guess..."**

**She actually got up – my mother, who had once interviewed Yasser Arafat – and slunk out of the room, ostensibly to check whether or not Andy was within earshot. **

Andy raised an eyebrow at his wife and she smiled sheepishly back at him.

**I rolled my eyes. Love. It could make a pretty big sap out of you. **

"You would know," Brad muttered.

**As I rolled my eyes, I noticed that my mother, who always gets a lot of nervous energy in a crisis, had spent the time that I'd been missing hanging up more pictures in the living room. There were some new ones, ones I hadn't seen before. I got up to inspect them more closely. **

**There was one of her and my dad on their wedding day. They were coming down the steps of the courthouse where they'd been married, and their friends were throwing rice at them. They looked impossibly young and happy. I was surprised to see a picture of my mom and dad right alongside the pictures of my mom's wedding to Andy. **

**But then I noticed that beside the photo of my mom and dad was a picture from what had to have been Andy's wedding to his first wife. This was more of a studio portrait than a candid shot. Andy was standing, looking stiff and a little embarrassed, next to a very skinny, hippyish-looking girl with long, straight hair. **

The boys glance at the photo on the wall. Their mother looked beautiful, bright and happy. They all wished their last memory of her could be similar to that photo.

**A hippyish-looking girl who seemed a little familiar. **

"Oh," Helen said finally understanding Suze's strange questioning and sudden need to speak to David..

"**Of course she does," a voice at my shoulder said. **

"**Jees, Dad," I hissed, whirling around. "When are you going to stop doing that?"**

"**You are in a heap of trouble, young lady," my father said. He looked sore. Well, as sore as a guy in jogging pants could look. "Just what were you thinking?"**

"Good," Andy said satisfied, "he agrees with me."

"Poor Suze," David mumbled. "Having to deal with three parents and two of them being fathers."

"I think it's more of a case of poor Jesse," Jake muttered back. "Not that he needs our sympathy."

**I whispered, "I was thinking of making it safe for people to protest the corporate destruction of northern California's natural resources without having to worry about being sealed up in an oil drum and buried ten feet under."**

"**Don't get smart with me, Susannah. You know what I'm talking about. You could have been killed."**

"**You sound like **_**him**_**." I tolled my eyes towards Andy's picture.**

"Even better," Andy said feeling immensely pleased. Not only did his 'rival' for Helen and Suze's affections agree with him but Suze is somewhat subconsciously comparing him to her father meaning she thinks of him as a Dad too.

"**He did the right thing, grounding you," my father said, severely. "He's trying to teach you a lesson. You behaved in a thoughtless and reckless manner. And you shouldn't have hit that kid of his."**

"I like him," Brad said cheerfully.

"**Dopey? Are you **_**joking**_**?"**

**But I could tell he was serious. I could also tell that this was one argument that I wasn't going to win. **

**So instead, I looked at the picture of Andy and his first wife, and said sullenly, "You could have told me about her, you know. It would have made my life a whole lot simpler."**

"Pete better hope he never meets me in the afterlife," Helen said darkly. "Putting our little girl in danger like that."

"**I didn't know either," my dad said with a shrug. "Not until I saw your mom hang up the photo this afternoon."**

David snorted. "He knew, so did Jesse, they kept making those cryptic hints remember?"

Andy shuddered at the look on Helen's face, Jesse was certainly going to rejoin Pete long before Helen does, that was for sure.

"**What do you mean, you didn't know?" I glared at him, "What was with all the cryptic warnings, then?"**

"**Well, I knew Beaumont wasn't the Red you were looking for. I told you that."**

"Oh that's helpful," Jake said sarcastically.

"**Oh, big help," I said.**

"**Look." my dad seemed annoyed. "I'm not all-knowing. Just dead."**

Helen winced and her expression softened. She couldn't hold what Pete and Jesse didn't know against them. Especially since despite their death they were still helping her baby.

**I heard my mother's footsteps on the wood floor. "Mom's coming," I said. "Scat."**

**And Dad, for once, did as I asked, so that when my mother returned to the living room, I was standing in front of the wall of photos, looking very demure – well, for a girl who'd practically been burned alive anyway.**

Jake and Brad snorted.

"**Listen," my mother whispered. **

**I looked away from the picture. My mother was holding an envelope. It was a bright pink envelope, covered with little hand-drawn hearts and rainbows. The kind of hearts and rainbows Gina always put on her letters to me from back home. **

"So much for being a unified partnership against the children," Andy said.

"She helped in a crisis!" Helen defended herself. "And looking back now after what we just read, don't you agree she deserved that letter?"

"Yes," Andy sighed.

"**Andy wanted me to wait to tell you about this," my mom said in a low voice, "until after your grounding was up. But I can't. I want you to know I've spoken with Gina's mom, and she's agreed to let us fly Gina out here for a visit during her school's Spring Break next month-"**

**My mother broke off as I flung both my arms around her neck. **

"**Thank you!" I cried. **

"**Oh, honey," my mom said, hugging me – although a little tentatively, I noticed, since I still smelt like fish. "You're welcome. I know how much you miss her. And I know how tough it's been on you, adjusting to a whole new high school, and a whole new set of friends – and to having stepbrothers. We're so proud of how well you're doing." She pulled away from me. I could tell she'd wanted to go on hugging me, but I was too gross even for my own mother. "Well, up until now, anyway." **

**I looked down at Gina's letter, which my mom had handed to me. Gina was a terrific letter writer. I couldn't wait to go upstairs and read it. Only...only something was still bothering me. **

"Mom," David said quietly.

**I looked back over my shoulder at the photo of Andy and his first wife. **

"**You hung up some new pictures, I see" I said. **

**My mom followed my gaze. "Oh, yes. Well, it kept my mind occupied while we were waiting to hear from you. Why don't you go upstairs and get yourself cleaned up? Andy's making individual pizzas for dinner."**

"**His first wife," I said, my eyes still glued to the photo. "Dopey's – I mean Brad's – mom. She died, right?"**

Everyone grimaced. They really didn't need to hear this again.

"**Uh-huh," my mother said. "Several years ago."**

"**What of?"**

"**Ovarian cancer. Honey, be careful where you put those clothes when you take them off. They're covered with soot. Look, there's black gunk now all over my new Pottery Barn slip covers."**

**I stared at the photo. **

"**Did she..." I struggled to formulate the correct question. "Did she go into a coma or something?"**

**My mother looked up from the slip cover she'd been yanking from the armchair where I'd been lounging. **

"**I think so," she said. "Yes, towards the end. Why?"**

"**Did Andy have to..." I turned Gina's letter over and over in my hands. "Did they have to pull the plug?"**

"Yes," Andy whispered. It was one of the worst moments of his life and will always haunt him to some extent.

"**Yes." My mother had forgotten about the slip cover. Now she was staring at me, obviously concerned. **

"I was worried about her sudden interest," Helen explained. "She's never been that interested in something like this since her father's death when she wanted to know why he hadn't come home."

"**Yes, as a matter of fact, they had to ask that she be taken off life support at a certain point since Andy believed she wouldn't have wanted to live like that. Why?"**

"She wouldn't have," Jake agreed. He remembered his Mom, how cheerful and happy and how much she loved every little thing about life. She'd hate being stuck in a sterile room with machines stuck on her.

"**I don't know." I looked down at the hearts and rainbows on Gina's envelope. **_**Red**_**. I had been so stupid. **_**You know me**_**, Doc's mother had insisted. God, I should so have my mediator licence revoked. If there were a licence, which, of course, there isn't. **

"Still should have it revoked," Brad muttered.

"**What was her name?" I asked, nodding my head towards the photo. "Brad's mom, I mean?"**

"Wait she actually called me Brad without the slip up?"

"Don't get too excited, it was months until she stopped calling you Dopey," Jake said.

"**Cynthia," my mother said. **

**Cynthia. God, what a loser I am. **

"**Honey, come help me, would you?" my mother was still futzing with the chair I'd been sitting in. "I can't get this one cushion loose-"**

**I tucked Gina's envelope into my pocket and went to help my mother. "Where's Doc?" I asked. "I mean, David."**

**My mother looked at me curiously. "Upstairs in his room, I think, doing his homework. Why?"**

"**Oh, I just have to tell him something."**

**Something I should have told him a long time ago. **

They sat there in silence for a while. David mostly felt guilty, his sister almost died because of his own guilt. He missed his Mom desperately but he couldn't imagine a life without Suze, who had listened, talked to him, hung out with him and actually treated him as a person instead of an interesting pet like his brothers do.

"Sweetheart," Helen said looking directly at David, "none of this is your fault." She knew him fairly well, if he blamed himself for his mother's death he would definitely blame himself for Suze's near death experience of the week (so to speak). "It's really her own fault for not being polite and asking your mother's name before talking about sending messages to the living."

"Yeah," David said smiling weakly.

Andy resolved to have a proper talk with his youngest after they finished reading these diaries. "Let's read this final entry then," he said loudly.


	23. Chapter 23

"**So?" Jesse asked. "How did he take it?"**

"Who take what?" Brad asked, confused at the sudden scene change and confident that he missed something.

"David you idiot!" Jake hissed.

"**I don't want to talk about it."**

"Neither do I," David muttered.

**I was stretched out on my bed, totally without make-up, attired in my oldest jogging clothes. I had a new plan: I had decided I was going to treat Jesse exactly the way I would my stepbrothers. That way, I'd be guaranteed not to fall in love with him.**

The boys snorted. "Good luck with that," Jake said sarcastically.

**I was flipping through a copy of **_**Vogue**_** instead of doing my Geometry homework like I was supposed to. Jesse was on the window seat – of course – petting Spike. **

**Jesse shook his head. "Come on," he said. It always sounded strange to me when Jesse said things like **_**Come on**_**. It seemed so strange coming out of a guy who was wearing a shirt with laces instead of buttons. **

Helen let out a girlish giggle at the mental image; the same mental image caused the boys and Andy to grimace.

"**Tell me what he said."**

**I flipped a page of my magazine. "Tell me what you guys did to Marcus."**

**Jesse looked a little too surprised by the question. "We did nothing to him."**

"And Father D is actually in a relationship with Sister Ernestine," Brad said sarcastically.

"Ew, Brad we don't need that mental image!" Jake said scrunching his face up in disgust.

"Yes, stop making comments on Father Dominic's love life, Brad," Andy said looking slightly nauseated.

"**Baloney. Where'd he go then?"**

**Jesse shrugged and scratched Spike beneath the chin. The stupid cat was purring so loud, I could hear it all the way across the room.**

"**I think he decided to travel for a while." Jesse's tone was deceptively innocent. **

The boys snorted.

"**Without any money? Without his credit cars?" one of the things the firemen had found in the room was Marcus's wallet...and his gun. **

"I hope that gives him some legal problems," Helen muttered darkly.

"**There is something to be said-" Jesse gave Spike a playful swat on the back of the head when the cat took a lazy swipe at him – "for seeing this great country of ours on foot. Maybe he will come to have a better appreciation for its natural beauty."**

Everyone snorted. "I give it a week until he's back," Jake said.

**I snorted, and turned a page of my magazine. "He'll be back in a week."**

"**I think not."**

**He said it with such certainty that I instantly became suspicious. **

"I am rather suspicious too," Helen said hoping that whatever Jesse and his ghostly friends did to Marcus they left enough for her.

"**Why not?"**

**Jesse hesitated. He didn't want to tell me, I could tell. **

"Don't protect her, she's already evil so there's no point," Brad said with a groan. He really wanted to know too.

"Bradley, what have I said about insulting your sister?"

Brad just shrugged and Andy sighed. He'll fight that battle another day.

"**What?" I said. "Telling me, a mere living being, is going to violate some spectral code?"**

"**No," Jesse said with a smile. "He's not coming back, Susannah, because the souls of the people he killed won't let him."**

"Huh?"

**I raised my eyebrows. "What do you mean?"**

"**In my day, it was called bedevilment. I don't know what they call it now. But your intervention had a rallying effect on Mrs Fiske and the three others whose lives Marcus Beaumont took. They have banded together, and will not rest until he has been sufficiently punished for his crimes. He can run from one end of the earth to the others, but he will never escape them. Not until he dies himself. And then when that happens-" Jesse's voice was hard – "he will be a broken man."**

Helen had a very sinister smile on her face that caused the males in the room to shiver.

**I didn't say anything. I couldn't. As a mediator, I knew I shouldn't approve of this sort of behaviour. **

"In other words if she could she would have helped them," Brad said.

**I mean, ghosts should not be allowed to take the law into their own hands any more than the living should. **

"So why didn't she keep this thought when she went after Michael?" Andy asked, it would mean he would have less grey hairs if she did.

**But I had no particular fondness for Marcus, and no way of proving that he killed those people anyway. He'd never be punished, I knew, by the inhabitants of this world. So was it so wrong that he be punished by those who lived in the next?**

"That had better not be her excuse for Michael," Helen said.

**I glanced at Jesse out of the corner of my eyes, remembering that, from what I'd read, no one had ever been convicted of**_** his**_** murder either. **

"**So," I said. "I guess you did the same thing, huh, to the, um, people who killed you, right?"**

"I doubt it," Brad snorted, "Jesse is too _nice_"

"There's nothing wrong with being nice," Helen frowned.

**Jesse didn't fall for the sly question though. He only smiled, and said, "Tell me what happened with your brother."**

"**Stepbrother," I reminded him. **

David felt a little hurt that Suze wasn't attached to him as he was to her and that she still saw him as a stepsibling.

**And I wasn't going to tell Jesse about my interview with Doc, any more than Jesse was going to tell me diddly about how he'd died. Only in my case, it was because what had happened with Doc was just too excruciatingly embarrassing to go into. Jesse didn't want t talk about how he'd died because...well, I don't know. But I doubt it's because he's embarrassed about it. **

**I had found Doc exactly where my mother had told me he'd be, in his room doing his homework, a paper that wasn't due until the following month. But that was Doc for you: why put off until tomorrow homework you could be doing today?**

"If only your brothers had a similar philosophy," Andy said.

"Where would be the fun in that?" Brad grimaced.

**His 'Come in', when I'd tapped at the door had been casual. He hadn't suspected it would be me. I never ventured into my stepbrothers' rooms if I could avoid it. The odour of dirty socks was simply too overwhelming. **

Helen shuddered her agreement while the boys looked indignant. Their rooms smelt a lot better than all that perfume Suze's room stinks off.

**Only since I wasn't smelling too daisy-fresh myself at that particular moment, I thought I could bear it. **

David scrunched his nose up. "She smelt awful," he said.

**He was shocked to see me, his face turning almost as red as his hair. He jumped up and tried to hide his pile of dirty underwear beneath the comforter of his unmade bed. **

David's ears turned pink as his brothers snickered and his parents looked at him disapprovingly.

**I told him to relax. And then I sat down on the unmade bed, and said I had something to tell him. **

**How did he take it? Well, for one thing, he didn't ask me a lot of stupid questions like **_**How do you know**_**? He knew how I knew. He knew a little about the mediation thing. Not a lot, but enough to know that I communicate, on a somewhat regular basis, with the undead. **

**I guess it was the fact that it was his own mother I'd been communicating with this time that brought tears to his blue eyes...which freaked me out a bit. I had never seen Doc cry before. **

Jake suppressed the urge to punch something. He hadn't seen his little brother cry since their mother's death and he hated the idea of his little brother suffering all this time and only starting to cry after all these years.

"**Hey!" I said, alarmed. "Hey, it's ok-"**

"**What-" Doc was choking back a sob. I could totally tell. "What did she l-look like?"**

"Pretty," Brad said gruffly remembering Suze's description. He missed his Mom just as much and wished she gave him a message too. He was insanely jealous of his stepsister and brother since they got to see and hear from her.

"**What did she **_**look**_** like?" I echoed, not sure I'd hear him right. At his vigorous nod, however, I said carefully, "Well, she looked...she looked very pretty."**

**Doc's tear-filled eyes widened. "She did?"**

"**Uh-huh," I said. "That's how I recognized her, you know. From the wedding photo of her and your dad, downstairs. She looked like that. Only her hair was shorter."**

Andy had a small smile as he remembered his first wife on their wedding day. She was truly radiant that day.

**Doc said, the effort he was making not to cry causing his voice to shake, "I wish I could...i wish I could see her looking like that. The last time I saw her, she looked terrible. Not like in that picture. You wouldn't have recognized her. She was in a c-coma. Her eyes were sunken in. and there were all these tubes coming out of her-"**

Everyone shuddered at that and Andy pulled his youngest into a hug.

**Even though I was sitting like a foot away from him, I felt the shudder that ran through him. I said gently, "David, what you did, when you guys made the decision to let her go...it was the right thing. It was what she wanted. That's what she needs to make you understand. You know it was the right thing, don't you?"**

"Doesn't mean it doesn't hurt," Brad muttered. He was surprised when Jake suddenly slung an arm round him and hugged him. "Gerroff!" he growled but there was no anger or embarrassment in his tone and he leaned in ever so slightly.

**His eyes were so deeply pooled in tears, I could hardly see his irises any more. As I watched, one drop escaped, and tickled down his cheek, followed quickly by another on the opposite side of his face. **

"**I-intellectually," he said. "I guess. B-but-"**

"**It was the right thing," I repeated firmly. "You've got to believe that. She does. So stop beating yourself up. She loves you very much-"**

**That did it. Now the tears were coming down in full force.**

David had started to cry now as Andy held him tightly. Jake and Brad had tears in their own eyes, they wished their Mom would just say that she loved them as much as they loved David too.

Helen had never felt so awkward before and kept quiet.

"**She said that?" he asked in a broken voice that reminded me that he was, after all, still a pretty young kid, and not the superhuman computer he sometimes acts like. **

"**Of course she did."**

"But she didn't!" David said remembering what they had read.

"But she does," Andy said gently. "She loves all three of you ever so much and you all mean the world to her. Suze was right to tell you that because it's so true."

**She hadn't, of course, but I'm sure she would have if she hadn't been so disgusted by my gross incompetency.**

"See?"

**Then Doc did something that completely shocked me: he flung both arms around my neck. **

**This kind of impassioned display was so unlike Doc, I didn't know what to do. I sat there for one awkward moment, not moving, afraid that if I did, I might gourge his face with some of the rivets on my jacket. Finally, however, when he didn't let go, I reached up and patted him uncertainly on the shoulder. **

"**It's ok," I said lamely. "Everything is going to be ok."**

**He cried for about two minutes. His clinging to me, crying like that, gave me a strange feeling. It was kind of a protective feeling. **

Jake knew exactly how that felt. He felt it all the time as he looked after his three very annoying, danger-magnet siblings.

**Then he finally leaned back, and embarrassed, wiped his eyes again and said, "Sorry."**

**I said. "It's no big deal," even though of course it was. **

"**Suze," he said. "Can I ask you something?"**

**Expecting more questions about his mother, I said, "Sure."**

"**Why do you smell like fish?"**

Everyone couldn't help a weak chuckle. That was definitely one way to change the mood.

**I went back to my room a little while later, shake not just by Doc's emotional reaction to the message I'd delivered but also by something else as well. Something I had not told Doc, and which I had no intention of mentioning to Jesse either. **

"Not a homicidal ghost is it?" Andy joked weakly.

**And that was that while I'd been hugging Doc, his mother had materialized on the opposite side of the bed, and looked down at me. **

"S-she was?" David stammered.

"**Thank you," she said. She was, I saw, crying about as hard as her kid. Only her tears, I was uncomfortably aware, were of gratitude and love. **

Brad wiped his tears fiercely and Jake blinked furiously while David buried his head into Andy's shoulder.

**With all these people crying around me, was it really any wonder that **_**my**_** eyes filled up too? I mean, come on. I'm only human. **

"She's a lovely sensitive woman," Andy corrected touched that his stepdaughter cared so much for his first wife and youngest son.

**But I really hate it when I cry. I'd much rather bleed or throw up or something.**

Andy really couldn't help but laugh. "She likes to be tough, doesn't she?"

Helen just moaned. She would prefer it if Suze was more interested in cooking than fighting.

**Crying is just...**

**Well, it's the worst. **

"Yeah, it is," Jake mumbled.

**You can see why I couldn't tell any of this stuff to Jesse. It was just too...personal. It was between Doc and his mom and me, **

Andy sighed and felt rather guilty. He encouraged the others to read it and had now invaded his stepdaughter's and youngest son's private moment. But he knew it had to be important for Father Dominic to go to such extreme lengths.

**And wild horses – or excessively cute ghosts who happened to live in my bedroom – weren't going to get it out of me. **

"Urgh."

**Jesse, I saw when I glanced up from the article I'd been staring at unseeingly – **_**How to Tell If He Secretly Loves You**_**. Yeah, right. A problem I so don't have – was grinning at me. **

"I bet those articles are useless," Jake muttered.

"**Still," he said. "You must be feeling good. It's not every mediator who single-handedly stops a murderer."**

"I'd much rather if she didn't have that honour," Helen sniffed.

**I grunted and flopped over another page. "It's an honour I could definitely have lived without," I said. "And I didn't do it single-handedly. You helped." Then I remembered that, really, I'd had the situation well in hand by the time Jesse had shown up. So I added, "Well, sort of."**

**But that sounded ungracious. So I said grudgingly, "Thanks for showing up the way you did."**

"She could have been a little more polite," Helen said disapprovingly.

"Ah but Helen her ego is bruised," Andy said lightly, "she is so much like the boys when it comes to her ego."

"**How could I not? you called me." he had found a piece of string somewhere, and now he dragged it in front of Spike, who eyed it with an expression on his face that seemed to say 'Whaddaya think, I'm stupid'. **

"**Um," I said. "I did not call you, all right? I don't know where you're getting this."**

**He looked at me, his eyes darker than ever in the rays of the setting sun, which poured unmercifully into my room every night at sundown. "I distinctly heard you, Susannah."**

Everyone frowned.

"What do you think that means?" Brad asked.

Everyone but David shrugged. "I need to question Suze and conduct some tests," David muttered.

**I frowned. This was all getting a little too weird for me. First Mrs Fiske had shown up when all I'd been doing was thinking about her. And then Jesse did the same thing. Only I hadn't, to my knowledge, **_**called**_** either of them. I'd been **_**thinking**_** about them, true. **

"Maybe Suze has more power than an average mediator? Or as she reaches an emotional growth spurt her powers grow too?"

**Jees. There was way more stuff to this mediating thing than I'd ever even suspected. **

"**Well, while we're on the subject," I said, "how come you didn't just tell me that Red was Doc's mom's nickname for him?"**

"And made sure my baby didn't walk into a serial killer's home," Helen added.

**Jesse threw me a perplexed look. "How would I have known?"**

**True. I hadn't thought of that. Andy and my mother had brought the house – Jesse's house – only last summer. Jesse couldn't have known who Cynthia was. And yet...**

"He knew something," Jake muttered. "Both Jesse and her father knew something."

**Well, he'd known **_**something**_** about her. **

**Ghosts. Would I **_**ever**_** figure them out?**

"They seem determined to remain mysterious," Andy said.

"**What did the priest say?" Jesse asked me, in an obvious attempt to change the subject. "When you told him about the Beaumonts, I mean?"**

"He gave her a right telling off," Helen said. She had in fact called Father Dominic to tell him that Suze was home safe and sound and he requested to speak to Suze himself. She can remember distinctly Suze trying to protest and ended up sitting on the stairs sighing and huffing as Father Dominic went on and on. "Which I'm glad because she should have kept him informed all the time and therefore been better protected from Marcus."

"**Not a whole lot. He's pretty peeved at me for not having filled him right away about Marcus and stuff." I was careful not to add that Father D was also still ballistic over the whole Jesse issue. That, he'd promised me, was a topic we were going to discuss at length tomorrow morning at school. I could hardly wait. It was no wonder I wasn't doing so hot in Geometry if you took into account all the time I was spending in the principal's office. **

"She caught up rather quickly during mid-terms," David said reassuringly to his parents who looked a little miffed that the principal was stunting Suze's education.

**The phone rang. I snatched up the receiver, grateful for an excuse not to have to go on lying to Jesse. **

"**Hello?" **

**Jesse gave me a sour look. The telephone is one modern convenience Jesse insists he could live very happily without. **

"He changes his mind rather quickly on that when he's not living with Suze and can't pop out of thin air," Jake said.

**TV is another. **

"He loves that now, especially watching Jaws and documentaries with me," David said feeling a lot more cheerful now.

**He doesn't seem to mind Madonna though. **

Everyone laughed.

"**Sue?"**

"Suze," everyone automatically corrected the caller.

**I blinked. It was Tad. **

"**Oh, hi," I said. **

"**Um," Tad said. "It's me. Tad."**

**Don't ask me how this guy, and the guy who'd gotten away with so many murders, could be from the same gene pool. I really don't get it. **

"Genetic karma," Jake said, "it has to be the only explanation for having such a dumb brother and then suddenly bam such an intelligent one. Genetics likes to play games with us."

"I am not dumb and that was a load of crap," Brad said.

"Language," Andy said.

**I rolled my eyes and, throwing the copy of **_**Vogue**_** on to the floor, picked up Gina's letter and re-read it. **

"**I know it's you, Tad," I said. "How's your dad?"**

"**Um," Tad said. "Much better, actually. It looks as if someone was giving him something – something my dad seems to have thought was medicine – that may actually have been having some kind of hallucinatory effect on him. Turns out the doctors think that might be what's making him think he's...well, what he thinks he is."**

"So he wasn't insane from grief to begin with? Good god Marcus was horrible from the very start then," Andy said a little horrified, he had sort of hoped it was ambition and the power of the business that made Marcus go so cold and disgusting.

"**Really?"**

_**Dude**_**, Gina wrote, in her big, loopy cursive. **_**Looks like I'm headin' out West to see you! Your mom rocks! So does that new stepdad of yours. Can't wait to meet the new bros. They can't possibly be as bad as you say. **_

Brad and Jake looked smug and David rolled his eyes.

**Wanna bet?**

David snickered at Jake and Brad.

"**Yeah. So they're going to try to, you know, detox him for a while, and the hope is that once this stuff, whatever it is, is out of his system, he'll be back to his old self again."**

"**Wow, Tad," I said. "That's great."**

"**Yeah. It's going to take a while though, since I guess he's been taking this stuff since right after my mom died. I think...well, I didn't tell anyone, but I'm wondering if my uncle Marcus might have been giving this stuff to my dad. Not to hurt him or anything-"**

**Yeah, right. He hadn't been trying to hurt him. He'd been trying to gain control of Beaumont Industries, that's all. **

**And he'd succeeded. **

"**I think he really must have thought he was helping my dad. Right after my mom died, Dad was way messed up. Uncle Marcus was only trying to help him, I'm sure."**

Everyone snorted. "Right and I am a ballerina," Brad said sarcastically.

"It's good to be honest," Jake teased.

"Shut up!"

**Just like he was trying to help you, Tad, when he pistol-whipped you and swapped your Levis for swim trunks. Tad, I realized, had some major denial going on. **

"**Anyway," Tad went on. "I just want to say, um, thanks. I mean, for not saying anything to the cops about my uncle. I mean, we probably should have, right? But it seems like he's gone now, and it would have, you know, looked kind of bad for my dad's business-"**

**This conversation was getting way too weird for me. I returned to the comfort of Gina's letter. **

_**So what should I bring? I mean, to wear. I got this totally hot pair of **_**Miu Miu**_** slacks, marked down to twenty bucks at Filene's, but isn't it **_**Baywatch**_** weather there? The slacks are a wool blend. Also, you better get us invited to some rockin' parties while I'm there because I just got new braids, and, girlfriend, let me tell you, I looked GOOD. Shauna did them, and she only charged me a buck per. Of course I have to babysit her stinking brother this Saturday, but who cares? It's so worth it. **_

"**Well, anyway, I just called to say thanks for being, you know, so cool about everything."**

_**Also,**_** Gina wrote, **_**I think you should know, I am very seriously thinking about getting a tattoo while I'm out there. I know, I know. Mom wasn't very thrilled by the tongue stud. But I'm thinking there's no reason she has to see the tattoo, if I get it where I'm thinking about getting it. If you know what I mean! XXXOOO – G**_

"Oh I hope she didn't get a tattoo, her mother would kill me," Helen moaned.

"**Also, I guess I should tell you, since my uncle's gone, and my dad's...you know, in hospital...it looks like I have to go and stay with my aunt for a while up in San Francisco. So I won't be around for a few weeks. Or at least until my dad gets better."**

**I was never, I realized, going to see Tad again. To him, I would eventually become just an awkward reminder of what had happened. And why would he want to hang around someone who reminds him of the painful time when his dad was running around pretending to be Count Dracula?**

"I think it was more about the painful times of his uncle trying to kill him than anything."

**I found this a little sad, but I could understand it. **

_**P.S. Check this out! I found it in a thrift shop. Remember that whacked-out psychic we went to see that one time? The one who called you – what was it again? Oh, yeah, a mediator. Conductor of souls? Well, here you are! Nice robes. I mean it. Very Cynthia Rowley. **_

**Tucked into the envelope with Gina's letter was a battered tarot card. It appeared to have been from a beginner's set since there was an explanation printed under the illustration, which was of an old man with a long white beard holding a lantern. **

_**The Ninth Key**_**, the explanation went. **_**Ninth card in the Tarot, the Hermit guides the souls of the dead past the temptation of illusory fires by the roadside, so that they may go straight to their higher goal. **_

**Gina had drawn a balloon coming from the hermit's mouth in which she penned the words, **_**Hi, I'm Suze, I'll be your spiritual guide to the afterlife. All right, which one of you lousy spooks took my lip-gloss?**_

Everyone laughed and Helen couldn't help but be pleased that Suze had such a good friend who knew her so well.

"**Sue?" Tad sounded concerned. "Sue, are you still there?"**

"Her name is Suze!" Helen snapped.

"It's a good thing they didn't last, I think he wouldn't last long with his stupidity," Jake said pleased with that.

"**Yeah," I said. "I'm here. That's really too bad, Tad. I'll miss you."**

"**Yeah," Tad said. "Me, too. I'm really sorry you never got to see me play."**

"**Yeah," I said. "That's a real shame."**

"Yes I can hear the sincerity," Brad said rolling his eyes.

"Do you even know what sincerity is?" David asked.

"Yes! I'm not that stupid!"

"So you admit it," Jake teased.

"Dad!"

"Boys stop teasing your brother," Andy said sternly.

**Tad murmured a last goodbye in his sexy, silky voice, then hung up. I did the same, careful not to look in Jesse's direction.**

"**So," Jesse said without so much as an excuse-me-for-eavesdropping-on-your-private-conversation. "You and Tad? You are no more?"**

"Yes, he wasn't jealous at all over Suze seeing Tad," Andy laughed.

Helen looked pleased. "She deserves someone like him. He can at least keep her somewhat in line."

**I glared at him. **

"**Not," I said stiffly, "that it's any of your business. But yes, it appears that Tad is moving to San Francesco."**

**Jesse didn't even have the decency to try to hide his grin. **

Everyone laughed at that.

**Instead of letting him get to me, I picked up the tarot card Gina had sent me. It's funny, but it looked like the same on Cee Cee's aunt Pru had kept turning over when we'd been at her house. Had **_**I **_**made that happen? I wondered. Had it been because of me?**

"Maybe or maybe Aunt Pru really is psychic just not always accurate," David mused. "I really would like to do some experiments on her."

"I'm sure Cee Cee will enjoy watching them," Jake said.

"You won't treat that poor woman like a lab rat!" Helen snapped.

"Mom," David said looking hurt, "I know all about ethics in experimentation and wouldn't do anything without her permission."

**But I was certainly no great shakes as a conductor of souls. I mean, look how badly I'd messed up the whole thing with Doc's mom. **

"It wasn't a mess up on her side of things," Andy said, "Cynthia really should have told her more information."

"Suze could have still been more sensitive to her though," Helen said. She knew if it was her in that position then she wouldn't have remained calm enough if someone wasn't being helpful.

**On the other hand, I **_**had **_**figured it out eventually. And along the way, I'd helped stop a murderer...**

**Maybe I wasn't quite as bad at this mediating thing as I thought. **

**I was sitting there in the middle of my bed, trying to figure out what I should do with the card – pin it to my door? Or would that generate too many questions? Tape it up inside my locker? – **

"Where did she end up putting it?" Helen asked curiously.

Everyone shrugged. They never actually heard of this before, Suze probably kept it hidden in a drawer somewhere.

**When somebody banged on my bedroom door.**

"**Come in," I said. **

**The door swung open and Dopey stood there. **

"**Hey," he said. "Dinner's ready. Dad says for you to come downst- hey." his normally idiotic expression turned into a grin of malicious delight. "Is that a **_**cat?**_**"**

"No Brad, it's a dog," Jake said rolling his eyes.

**I glanced at Spike. And swallowed.**

"**Um," I said. "Yeah. But listen, Dope- I mean, Brad. Please don't tell your-"**

"**You," Dopey said, "are...so...**_**busted**_**."**

Andy glared at his son. "Is that really all you think about? Getting your sister into trouble?"

"No," Brad scowled. It didn't even work Suze had managed to keep that monster here anyway. "But it doesn't help that she gets away with things like that."

"She didn't," Andy said. "But I'd like it if you tried to not land her into trouble all the time and attempt some sort of friendly relationship with her."

"I have! We play video games sometimes!" Brad protested. "We're two different people, Dad, we don't like the same things or like the same people. We don't get on and I'm not the one always hurting her!"

"I'll be talking to Suze too," Helen said before Andy could lecture his son even more and upset the boy further. She had a suspicion that Brad was rather jealous of Suze considering her daughter had become rather popular very quickly and got on better with his brothers. "Both of you need to be nicer to each other not just you to Suze."

Brad nodded but was still scowling.

"Well, I assume that was the end of the entry then?" David said trying to ease some of the tension from reading this diary.

"It's the end of the diary," Helen said closing the book and putting it on the coffee table. "Jake do you want to start the next one?"

"Of course," Jake said picking up the third notebook.

_Author's Note: please do not expect the sequel to come out until the summer at earliest and the summer in 2013 the latest. _


	24. Author's Note

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: THE SEQUEL IS NOW UP. I REPEAT THE SEQUEL IS NOW UP! THANK YOU FOR BEING SO PATIENT! **


End file.
